


Iron Ardor

by torA_amadorE



Category: Deadpool (Movieverse), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anti-Stony, Civil War Team Iron Man, Don’t read this if you’re hoping for a STony fanfic, Hurt/Comfort, I have no idea what I'm doing, If you like Angsty love stories click HERE, Ironpool, Jealousy, Just in this though, Kiss Kiss Fall in Love, Love, Lovely Wade Wilson, M/M, Mutual Pining, One-Sided Attraction, Second chances don't always work out, Steve Rogers is a jerk, Steve gets redemption (sorta), This is an IronPool love story, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers are not end product, Tony Stark has misconceptions, Trust Issues, Unrequited Love, broken relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2019-05-30 19:11:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 49,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15103118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torA_amadorE/pseuds/torA_amadorE
Summary: The very idea that Steve was coming back sent shivers down Tony’s spine. It’s been two years since he’s seen the patriotic soldier, and to be completely honest, he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to see him again, EVER. Sure, Tony still loved him. Tony would always love him, but the day Steve chose to leave him stranded in the middle of the cold winters of Siberia alone, waltzing off with his parent’s murderer, was the day Tony’s whole world came crumbling down.Now he's falling into a whole new conception of love. He has no clue what he's doing, and that's saying a lot because... Tony IS a genius. Should he give the soldier a second chance, or follow his heart and chase after a Mercenary?





	1. Chapter 1

The very idea that Steve was coming back sent shivers down Tony’s spine. It’s been two years since he’s seen the patriotic soldier, and to be completely honest, he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to see him, EVER. Sure, Tony still loved him. Tony would always love him, but the day Steve chose to leave him stranded in the middle of the cold winters of Siberia alone, waltzing off with his parent’s murderer, was the day Tony’s whole world came crumbling down.

Sure, Tony was aware he and Cap were on opposing sides, and yeah, he understood that by catching Cap he was sentencing him to lock up, but Tony was also positive that it wouldn’t take long for the forces to release Cap. He was Captain America after all. What Tony hadn’t been expecting was that the love of his life would leave him beaten, cold, and completely alone.

“Yeah, mark it down for eight.” Tony adjusted his tie as he stood outside, his eyes focused on the plane coming in for a landing. “I can have them ready by tomorrow, open to the public and fetch the kid while you’re at it.”

“You ready for this Tony?” Rhodey spoke up from Tony’s right as he lay a hand on his shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze.

 “I don’t care if he has school, tell him to be there.” Tony clicked his tongue as he cocked an eyebrow at his oldest friend. “Alright, get that in order and send everything over to my main frame, I’ll have F.R.I.D.A.Y. put the rest in order, bye.” The billionaire let out an exhausted sigh before finally answering his friend. “Of course, I’m ready, why wouldn’t I be? Not as if I have a choice on the matter, right? I can’t order a delay in his arrival now, can I?” Tony paused as he glanced to his friend. “Can I?”

 “No, you can’t.” Rhodey shook his head as he let his hand run smoothly over the billionaire’s upper back, soothing his tense muscles in the slightest. “Just relax, it’s okay, it’s not like he’s gonna get off that plane expecting things to be how they used to. In fact, maybe he’s just as nervous as you are.”

 “What? I’m not nervous. Who said I’m nervous. I’m as calm as calm gets. Perfectly zen; one with the universe and all that jazz.” Tony pulled his sunglasses out of his pocket and opened them up, smoothly slipping them over his ears. “Now, shut up, the planes landing.”

It wasn’t until his old flame stood right in front of him that he felt his stomach clench. The familiar head of blonde hair, smooth skin, blue eyes, though the beard was new, and very suiting. His brown eyes met Steve’s blue ones and he immediately averted his gaze and cleared his throat.

 “Welcome back.” Tony clapped, rubbing his hands together as his signature smirk fell on his lips. “Tomorrow we have a press meeting to announce your return, and the day after that we have a meeting with a few congressmen to discuss terms and conditions regarding your assured safety and protocols on American soil.” Tony let his gaze glide across his old teammates. “But for now, shall we head inside for a bit of rest, you guys must be tired? Jet lag?”

 “Sleep sounds pretty good.” Natasha spoke up, breaking the awkward atmosphere that surrounded them. “Let’s go.”

 Tony nodded as he stepped to the side and gestured for them to head inside. Natasha nodded her head in acknowledgement as she stepped around the genius mechanic, the rest of the group following her lead.

 “I’ve gotta head out Tony, I’ll check back in to make sure you guys haven’t killed each other first thing in the morning, got it?” Rhodey called over his shoulder as he headed toward the front of the Avengers quarters.

 “Yeah, sure thing mom.” Tony called back, receiving a laugh from his friend before he rounded the corner.

“You look good, Tony.”

 Tony’s eyes snapped forward at the familiar, melodic voice that spoke his name. The same voice that’d woken him up many mornings on end. The same voice that’d penetrate his nightmares and pull him from his darkest pits of despair, into a pair of familiar, warm, loving arms. The same voice that used to assure him that he was okay. Had it been two years ago, he’d have melted on the spot, fell into those loving arms and breathed in the same cool scent he was so madly in love with, but he couldn’t do that now.

Couldn’t? No. He wouldn’t do that now. He wouldn’t let himself fall into the same hands that’d left him cold, broken… alone.

 “Yeah, well, time has the magic ability to heal the skin from harsh blows and broken ribs.” Tony snapped in return, focusing his eyes into those beautiful blue ones. “Though, I can’t quite say the same for relationships and mentality.”

 “Tony, I-“

 “Save it.” Tony huffed as he held his hand out in front of him. “I don’t have time for formalities. I have meetings to attend. Your rooms in the same place, I’ll be back tomorrow to take you guys to that press conference.”

 Tony took Steve’s hesitation as his cue to leave.

 “See ya later, Cap.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have an addiction to Marvel right now... and an addiction to shipping Tony Stark with just about everyone EXCEPT Steve Rogers or Bucky Barnes and IDK WHY, OKAY?!?!
> 
> Leave reviews if you please! Also, I hope you enjoy my trash work!  
> (Chapters will be short but of many!!)
> 
> I've written a few chapters but I'm posting them slowly bc... I don't wanna run out and not have more to post if I end up posting it all and playing catch up!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little Spider protects his Iron father.

Natasha plopped down on the cushioned stool next to the sharply dressed billionaire. Her hair was neatly kempt and Tony couldn’t help but notice she wore a hint of sweet pea perfume, probably something Pepper left sitting on the communal bathroom sink when she came over to pick up the documents for the Beijing prosper.

 “Hey, Tones.” Natasha rapped her fingers on the granite counter.

 “Natasha.” Tony nodded his head in her direction as he lifted his glass of coffee, sipping at the edge.

 Tony couldnt say he didn't feel awkward, he definitely did. He and Nat werent exactly friends but she had eventually come to understand Tonys actions two years ago, and although she didn't quite agree with him, she couldn't blame him. They're now in this mutual gray area, an area just outside of the once comfortable friendship they used to have.

 “Nat, I was wondering if you’ve seen my-“

 Sam’s words came to an abrupt stop upon noticing Tony. Sam still felt guilty for what he had caused two years ago, though Tony had long since gotten over it, with the incessant demands from Rhodey to 'let it go'. Rhodey was fine and Tony had long since come to the conclusion that that was all that really mattered.

 “No, I haven’t seen your cute wittle s-“

 “Signal booster!” Sam cut her off as Tony shot him amused look. “For Redwings communication.”

 “Nice cover, skippy.” Clint patted Sams shoulder as he passed by. “You really shouldn’t be ashamed of your stuffed bird collection though.”

 “Stuffed bird collection?” Tony cocked an eyebrow as he looked away from Sam, toward Clint for an explanation.

 “It’s the most darling thing, really.” Natasha spoke up, a small smirk on her lips. “Sam organizes them in the most precious wa-“

 “They’re kidding!” Sam stammers, his face conveying the opposite of his words. “Haha, very funny guys, now knock it off.”

 “Well, I was gonna tell you that I took Legolas hostage but…”

 Clint turned back toward Sam, a knowing smirk on his lips. Tony honestly had no clue what was going on but, he wouldn’t deny it was entertaining.

 “You what?!” Sams eyes widened as he whipped his head the Archers way. “What’d you do to him?!”

 “Is there any way to ask for a bit of peace and quiet in the morning?” A thick accented female voiced, her heels clicking against the hard flooring of the kitchen as she entered. “It is much too early to not be sleeping.”

 “Good morning little red.” Tony threw a crooked smirk Wanda’s way as she opened the fridge. “It seems to me like you got that beauty sleep just fine.”

 “Ever the charmer, Tony.” Rhodey rolled his eyes as he walked into the room, clapping his hand over the billionaires’ shoulder. “Is everyone ready? Happy’s already got the cars out there, ready to take us all to the venue, and before you ask, yes, the kids there waiting.” Rhodey rolled his eyes, answering Tonys question before the mechanic could even open his mouth. “Be grateful, if it weren’t for Pepper, he wouldn’t have been able to make it at all.”

 “I would’ve gone to get him.” Tony shrugged as he took a final sip of his drink. “He's being introduced as an official Avenger today, can't let him miss out on his own coming out party."

 "Yeah, sure, whatever." Rhodey rolled his eyes at Tonys little joke as he turned to the rest of the team. "Get a move on guys."

 “I’ll go get Steve and Vision.” Natasha offered, and Tony shot her a grateful look before the rest of the Avengers squad turned and headed out to the car.

 Tony hopped into the smaller black car in front of the teams limo. He’d made sure to order a car for himself, there was no way he was going to be able to sit in the same car as Steve without suffocating.

 “Talked to him yet?” Rhodey asked as he slid in the seat next to Tony.

 “No, and I don’t plan to.” Tony answered as he leaned forward and tapped the driver’s seat. “655 West thirty forth.”

 “You can’t run away from him forever.” Rhodey sighed as Tony leaned back comfortably in his seat.

 “What? I’m not running, I’ve never run from anything in my life.” Tony cocked his eyebrow Rhodeys way as he continued to speak. “I’m just selectively choosing the right time, and right now is NOT the right time.”

 Rhodey rolled his eyes as the car pulled down the drive of the Avengers headquarters. Tony knew Rhodey was just looking out for him. He knew his best friend was only thinking about whats best for him but Tony just wasn’t ready to deal with anything Steve had to say. Someone had to understand that Tony would confront the problem when he’s ready.

***

 “Tony.” Tony snapped his head up from his phone to spot Steve headed straight in his direction. “We need to talk.”

 “In case you haven’t noticed I’m a little busy.” Tony swallowed as he turned his eyes away from the deep blues. “The press conference wasn’t the only thing on my schedule today, now excuse me.”

 Tony pocketed his phone as he turned to walk away. He would eventually talk to Steve… eventually… but not now. He’s too vulnerable right now. If he talked to Steve now… Tony just didn’t want to fall into those same old routines. Even if he had missed Steve, even if he craved him… he wasn’t ready to forgive him. Two years of radio silence doesn’t just fix things.

 “Tony, please.” Steves’ hand darted forward, and before Tony could react and pull away a familiar, red clad hand pulled Steve’s to an abrupt stop.

 “Sorry, Captain America, sir.” The soft, yet firm, words rang through the air. “I think Mr. Stark is feeling a bit uncomfortable right now.”

 Tony let out a relieved sigh and he swears he could just about kiss the kid right there, and he wouldve… if the kid wasn’t a minor. Even if he was seventeen, the age of consent, Tony just doesnt mess with kids.

 “Spider-man.” Steve greeted as he pulled his hands out of the younger heroes’ grip. “Still playing as Tony’s protégé?”

 “I’m just doing my job as the friendly neighborhood Spider-man.” Peter straightened his posture as he took a stance against the much larger hero.

 “And that includes stopping a conversation?”

 “It includes making citizens feel safe.” Spider-man shot back, and Tony couldn’t help the small smirk that quirked its way to his lips. “And that includes Mr. Stark, even if the guy harassing him is a fellow team mate. As much as I respect you, sir, I’m sure you know the slogan, no means no.”

 “I…” Steve trailed as his eyes slid from Peter to Tony and back to Peter. “Of course.”

 “Welp, you heard the kid.” Tony slid his sunglasses out of his pocket and over his nose.

 Tony cocked an eyebrow at Steve before the soldier finally let out a defeated sigh and walked away. After hearing the conference room door click shut Tony turned to Peter with a proud smile plastered on his lips.

 "Impressive, Pete." Tony chuckled as he slapped the kid on the back. "I didnt think you'd swoop in to rescue little ole me."

"Of course I would, Mr. Stark!" Peter turned to Tony and, as much as Tony would have liked to ignore it, he could tell there was more than just a rescue mission that brought the kid over to him at that specific moment.

 "I'm getting the feeling that rescuing your all time favorite hero wasnt your main reason for coming over here." Tony slipped his glasses down his nose as he peeked over the rims of his glasses, raising his eyebrows at the Spider boy. "So go ahead and spit it out already, Underoos."

 "So, remember last year… I think it was July… it was really hot outside and…. No wait it might have been August…" Tony rolled his eyes as he listened to Peters continuous rant. "Early August, when we had that situation on the southside of Hells Kitchen?"

 "You gotta be more clear here kid… there are a lot of 'situations' in that particular area." Tony slipped his glasses off of his face as he rolled his hand forward, signalling Peter to speed up his explanation.

 "Well this particular instance was rather… gory? You'd remember it because you told me to stay out of it. Said it was too dangerous for a kid like me, which if I can say, with all do respect, sir, I'm able to handle a lot more than you think." Peter continued to babble, running Tonys' patience thin.

 "Well, you cant say. You'll handle what I tell you to." Tony directed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Now would you stop with your incessant rambling and just put it out already?"

"Right… s-sorry." Peter quickly apologized before nervously wetting his lips under the mask.

 Tony heard him take a steady breath before continuing, and Tony swears if he could just punch the kid for working him into a sweat, he would. Though that would be assault, abuse of power, and, though the kid continuously denied said title, child abuse. Tony does a lot of illegal things, but he does not abuse children.

 "Deadpool was spotted strolling down Seventh Avenue."

 The words rang loud and clear, bouncing against the concrete walls with an eerily uncomfortable echoing effect. Peter barely even had time to blink because it took Tony all but two seconds to enclose himself in his suit and fly out of the building, leaving Peter by himself in the large, nearly empty, convention center.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this chapter... I may rewrite it later and if I do ill make sure to include for you guys to reread chapter 2 in the next chapters notes!
> 
> I'm excited to bring in deadpool next chapter but I'm also nervous about how badly ill portray him haha...
> 
> Anyways... Please ignore spelling errors and I hope you Enjoy!! :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> DP takes the scene.

A loud clang.

A girlish shriek.

Tony rolled his eyes from underneath his visor as Deadpool let out an overdramatic scream. Ignoring the mercenary, he turned to assess the damage.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., sentry mode.” Tony stepped out of his suit as he walked over and snatched up Deadpool’s sword. “No blood this time, no bodies… no property damage. I’m not sure if I should be relieved, or worried.”

“I would say relieved, Boss.” F.R.I.D.A.Y.  replied as Deadpools screaming finally came to a stop. “I’ve scanned recent crime reports, nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Iron Daddy, it’s you!” Wade perked, his white masked eyes widening. “I was worried I was about to be molested, my innocence would’ve been tarnished.” Tony rolled his eyes as he turned to the red leathered merc. “What? Oh, good call. No, I agree yellow… though I’d like to be the one ravaging him.”

“Alright, okay, that’s enough.” Tony crinkled his nose in disgust at the merc’s words. “What’re you doing here, Deadpool? And I swear to god if you make a comment about my ass…”

“Well, that just about knocks out any logical answer.” Deadpool picked up his sword, running his fingers along the edge of the blade before slipping it into the holster on his back. “What else would I come to the city for, Mr. Stark?”

“That’s what I want you to tell me.” Tony narrowed his eyes at the sudden shift in the mouth area of the mercs’ mask. “I-“

Before Tony could say another word, Deadpool collapsed forward, a loud ‘thump’ chimed through the air.

"Steve?!" Tony's eye widened as he rushed forward to catch Deadpools body before it hit the ground, though he wasn't sure why, the guy had an out of this world healing factor. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm helping you?" Steve cocked his eyebrow in slight confusion. "I'm sorry, is he not a criminal because I've read up on his file and I'm pretty sure he's a hired mercenary… a murderer."

"Okay, yes, but at this moment we had no reason to attack him." Tony corrected the super soldier as he struggled to hold up the merc. "F.R.I.D.A.Y., help me out here will ya?"

After a quick 'yes, boss' from the obedient AI, the pressure for the mercenary's body was soon lifted from his arms, instead opting to lean onto the heavy metal suit.

"He is a criminal, Tony." Steve furrowed his brows in disapproval. "It is our duty to bring in people like him."

"Yeah, well didn't you maybe think about the reason he isn't in prison right now?" Tony snapped as he turned away from deadpool. "I mean, do you ever think of repercussions?! I dont need help catching the guy, Steve! I can bring the guy in myself, how incapable do you think I am?! Didn't you even think about why I havent brought him in?!"

"I didnt say you were incapable." Steve huffed as he straightendd his back, a move that made Tony want to punch the soldier in the face. Steve still had the same habit of straightening his posture to seem superior in conversations and that has always irked Tony, especially when used in an argument with him. "I'm just saying that maybe you didn't have the means."

"What?!" Tony let out an airy chuckle that was more from exasperation than laughter. "What means could I be lacking?! I'm IRON MAN! The worlds first defense against super villains and ALIENS!"

"Then explain to me why he was not arrested last year." Steve spoke calmly, which only pissed Tony off more because it made him feel stupid for getting so riled up.

"The problem isn't catching him!" Tony growled as he narrowed his eyes at the pretty blues. "Its keeping him!"

"What's stopping you then?" Steve cocked his eyebrow.

"Super crazy healing factor." A familiar voice spoke up, butting into the semi argument. "I'd love to say its a star crossed romance, who wouldn't wanna bang Iron Daddy? But unfortunately he only sees me as a friend, woe is me." Tony turned to catch Deadpool rubbing at the back of his head. "Boy did that hurt, you've got one mad swing my dude. Wait…" Deadpools white eyes widened as he recognized the head full of blonde hair. "Captain America?!" He squealed, and Tony couldn't help but roll his eyes. "I am a huge fan! You're like… my biggest childhood wet dream! This is like Destiny, though I would've preferred a good spanking over a clock in the head but ill take what I can get!"

"I can't say I'm flattered." Steve narrowed his eyes at the red clad merc with a mouth.

"And hes flattered!" Deadpool squealed once more and Tony let out an annoyed sigh as he stocked past the merc, toward his suit.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y., open up, we are getting out of he-"

Before Tony could finish a pair of leathered arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him backwards.

"Oh, dont go Mr. Stark, I didnt mean to make you jealous!" Deadpool whined as he pulled Tony backward. "Its been a year since ive gotten a good look at you, and let me say that ass is phenomenal."

Before Tony could say anything, a hand wrapped around his shoulder, wretching his body out of the mercenarys grasp.

"Dont touch Tony." Steve snapped as he took a step between the two other men.

"No, you dont touch me." Tony pulled away from Steves burning touch as he stepped backwards into his suit. "I can take care of myself, Steve. Does the memory of you leaving me to fend for myself in the middle of a frozen wasteland ring a bell? Or is it so traumatic for you that you've blocked it out of your memories."

"Tony, that's.… I-"

"I don't care." Tony flipped his visor down as he started his thrusters. "Save your pity session for someone who does."

Before anyone could reply, Tony shot up into the sky, heading in the opposite direction of the compound.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y, book me a suite at the Beekman."

"Is there a reason, boss?"

"Ive got a strong feeling that if we return back to the compound today there will be a certain soldier pounding on my walls."

"Certainly." F.R.I.D.A.Y. agreed. "Ive been told that soldiers are quite persistent."

"Its their job." Tony agreed, a small smirk forming on his lips at the AI's attempt at gossip.

"Ive booked a penthouse at the Beekman, sir."

"Good, we are headed there now." Tony boosted his thrusters as he sped up in the direction of his newly booked penthouse. "I need a drink."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Forgive any typos... this wasn't looked over haha.  
> I hope it wasn't too boring for you!  
> It'll get much more dicey in the next few chapters bc now Deadpool is involved and angst is sure to follow with newly developed feelings!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony could honestly use a break from his usual team... and that's exactly what Deadpool has come to offer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've added Wolverine, Colossus and Negasonic to the character-list... bc they'll be in here for a bit due to my change of story route.

Tony felt like he was being watched, and not in the ' _oh its Iron Man, get a picture kind of way'_. No, as in the ‘ _someone’s following you in a dark black hoodie down Beekman Street’_ kind of way. He glanced backward and caught sight of the large figure that seemed to be inching closer to him with every second. Tony, of course, wasn't worried, not at all. He had his newly improved armor suit made of Nano-particles, worked inside a small stapled arc reactor he placed on his chest, where his old, much more life threatening, reactor used to be. This suit is always with Tony, not to mention he has F.R.I.D.A.Y. hooked up to his older MK suit back at his Beekman pent house. One wave of his finger and she'd come flying his way, not that he needed her of course, he was fully functional enough to activate his Nano technology, unless of course it malfunctioned… which was almost impossible, Tony doesn't do failures.

Tony glanced back at the large, he assumes male based on the lack of breasts and the broad shoulders, figure once more as he opened the door to Birch Coffee. Tony looked up to find the place relatively empty, aside from two high schoolers with their textbooks open near the window. He let out a small relieved sigh as he made his way to the cash register.

 "Can I get a mochaccino with extra whip and one of those weird cookie things you've got over there?" Tony ordered as he handed the cashier his card.

 “Right.” The cashier replied in a monotonous tone which Tony would usually comment on but… he was more focused on the black clad figure that had just entered through the glass entrance.

He let out a sigh, it’d been a long day. The press conference had gone… okay, he supposes. Peter had finally been introduced as an Avenger, something the kid deserved after all the danger they had put him in the past, especially after the vulture incident. After the press conference though, Tony had had that confrontation with Deadpool, which wasn't the problem. He could tolerate Deadpool. The man had a mouth, sure, and he never shut up, but he was entertaining, and his quips were clever as hell; Tony could appreciate that. He had in fact been looking forward to giving the mouthy merc a quick greeting before inevitably forcing him to leave the city, but of course, a certain asshole soldier had to go and ruin the only fun in his day. After Steve showed up, Tony figured the soldier could handle the merc on his own, and if he couldn't? Good, the soldier deserved a bit of an ass kicking anyways.

Yes, Tony is petty.

"Sir." The cashier slid his drink across the counter with a little white bag, probably containing his cookie.

"Thanks." Tony nodded as he grabbed his order and headed toward one of the stools at the other side of the store.

Tony opened the white bag as he plopped down on the cushioned stool. Just as he took his first bite, the hooded figure took a seat in front of him.

"I'm not sure if you know this but… following a man around the busy streets of New York can be considered creepy." Tony dipped his finger into his whip cream, not bothering to look up at the stranger. "I know they say persistence is key but I'm ninety nine percent sure stalking was not their intent, but what do I know? It worked in fifty shades."

"Fifty shades of stuff I’ve already done.

Tony sucked the whip off his finger before looking up at the familiar character sitting before him.

"Oh great, so it’s not just a stalker."

"Nope, it’s your one and only snookum’s, escaped fresh from under the shield of a very naughty soldier." Deadpool’s mask crinkled around the mouth. "Did no one read him the rule book? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think my all-time favorite hero thinks I'm a menace!"

"You _are_ a menace." Tony rolled his eyes as he removed his sunglasses, hanging them off the collar of his shirt.

"Why I'd- No I'm not saying that. " Deadpool cut himself off with his usual self-banter. "He always looks this nice… he's right though, we kill people for a living."

"No, no, please say it, I’m curious.” Tony before taking another bite of his cookie. "I’m always quite entertained by your little voices."

"Yes, he is referring to you guys…. No, I will not give you a shout out."

Tony let out an airy chuckle before giving a small whistle.

"You still with me?" Tony snapped his fingers, finally drawing the mercs attention back to himself. “I’d like to know what you’re so passionately stalking me for.”

"I was just passing through the neighborhood and decided to drop by." Deadpool responded, as his mask only wrinkled more around the mouth. "I'm just checking in on you, ya know, because I'm your friendly neighborhood Deadpool."

"Define friendly." Tony sighed at the mercs’ antics as he took a sip of his mocha. "If by friendly you mean an annoying stalker with murderous intent, then yeah, you’re spot on."

"If it helps soothe your nerves, I’ll have you know that any intent I have towards you, Iron Daddy, is purely sexual." Deadpool brought his hand up as he hit Tony with, what Tony deemed, the lamest finger gun in history.

"And soothe it did not." Tony scoffed as he sat his mochaccino aside. "What part of 'get out if New York and don't come back' did you not understand?"

"Everything after get out is a blur for me." Deadpool let out a giddy chuckle. "We started imagining yo-"

"Abapahpah- I don't want to know." Tony rubbed his eyes. "What’re you here for this time? How many people have you injured?"

"None, if you don’t count myself." Deadpool raised his gloved hands in surrender. "You will not believe how hard it is to try and catch spidey-babe while he's swinging through town… four leaps off a building before I finally gave up, timing is not key when the guy swings like that."

"Was that innuendo?" Tony sighed as he looked back into the whites of Deadpool’s mask. "One, don’t call the kid babe. Two, stay away from him. Three, why would you even think it’s a good idea to jump off a building? What were you even trying to get his attention for?"

“Well, I couldn’t go directly to you, your stupid electronic butler lady wouldn’t let me through the front doors.” Deadpool whined as he dropped his hand back to the table. “It’s almost like she doesn’t know we’re madly in love.”

“Yeah, because we aren’t.”

“How could you say that after what I sent you for Christmas?” Deadpool’s hands quickly flew to his face as his white masked eyes widened in shock. “And here I thought we had a commitment!”

“What’d you- you know what, never mind, I don’t want to know.” Tony rubbed his temples. “What do you want from me?”

“Other than that ass?” Deadpool winked, causing Tony to roll his eyes.

“Yes, other than this ass. What is with your obsession with my ass?”  

“I just imagine you have these firm iron buns of steel.” Deadpool chuckled before finally. “But I do have another, less important, reason for being here.”

“And that is?”

“Colossus sent me from the X-men to request your help to find my best beasty pal, Wolvy.” Deadpool clasped his hands in front of him. “Please, daddy, I miss my little beasty.”

“Wolverine?” Tony cocked his eyebrow in question. “Aren’t you a mercenary, isn’t that your specialty?”

“Yeah, no.” Deadpool let his begging hands drop. “I tried, and though I’m super skilled, I don’t have the means to hack into a high security corporation.”

“Can’t you just bust in and kill them all?” Tony asked. “I mean, not that I want you to kill them but… you’d usually go against better judgement.”

“Colossus won’t let me.” Deadpool shrugged. “The sweet cheeked brute claims there are innocent people inside.”

“What kind of corporation is it?”

“Just your regular militant drug facility,” Deadpool leaned forward. “being ran by a psychotic CEO with a thirst for mutant blood.”

“more specifically, yours and Wolverines healing factor, right?” Tony added as Deadpool gave a swift nod. “And you can’t get in on your own, so I was you ‘only’ hope.”

“Exactly, I knew you and your beautiful brain would understand!” Deadpool shot forward, grabbing the back of Tony’s neck before he could react, laying a masked kiss on his forehead. “So, I’ll stop by your room later tonight and you give me your answer, which is obviously yes because you love me.”

Before Tony could say another word, Deadpool bolted from the coffee shop, disappearing out the glass doors faster than Tony had ever seen him move.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., tighten the security of my room.” Tony slipped his glasses back onto his face as he spoke into his phone.

“Yes, Boss.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. replied as Tony grabbed his mocha and tossed the rest of his over-sized cookie into the trash.

“The last thing I need is Deadman breaking in while I’m sleeping.” Tony sighed.

“Deadpool, Boss.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. Innocently corrected Tony’s mistake. “I’ve read that his name originated from a gamble of death.”

Tony let out an airy snort as he headed back in the direction of the safety of his room.

“Yeah? Well, i’ve read that he’s an idiot, but thanks for sharing, sugar plum.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Excuse Typos guys, I do try but i'm currently a mess so...  
> I hope the chapter wasn't too bad... I've been working on it but it's not quite where I want it to be and it may be edited later for that exact reason... I hope you enjoy it though!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> F.R.I.D.A.Y. honestly doesn't take Tony's bologne and Deadpool is a persistent little shit.

  
Tony hadn't taken Deadpools declaration seriously. Being Ironman, he didn't think he had to. F.R.I.D.A.Y. was an AI he built, an AI that he was suppose to be able to control but… here he was, arguing with the damn thing about her decision to allow the merc with a mouth into his suite while he was downstairs at the bar. He wasn't drinking of course, the atmosphere just soothed him.  
  
"I thought I made it perfectly clear not to let anyone in!" Tony barked as he threw his jacket off, onto the plush mattress.  
  
"I apologize, boss." The AI replied, and Tony could definitely sense she was not sorry. "After listening to your conversation with Sir Funkalot earlier I thought it might be of importance to you."  
  
"Yeah well, you don't think. I do. Got it?" Tony sighed as he poured himself a glass of ice water. "And why the hell did you just call him Sir Funkalot?"  
  
"Due to his insistence-"  
  
"Because I've got that funk!" Deadpool chimed in, cutting off the AI. "I'm funky fresh, right Day?"  
  
"It seems so." F.R.I.D.A.Y. replied causing Tony to roll his eyes.  
  
Just his luck, his AI has bonded with a moron.  
  
"You should really give her more credit, Iron Daddy, she knows how to help a man out." Deadpools mask crinkled a bit around the mouth as he flopped back onto the bed. "Oh, how fluffy."  
  
"You're definitely getting an update." Tony mumbled under his breath as he walked across the suite, plopping down on the sofa as he sat his glass on the coffee table. "Why me?"  
  
"Why not you?" Deadpool replied as he crashed down on the couch, laying his head on Tonys lap. "Youre smart, gorgeous, witty, and don't get me started on those big doe eyes."  
  
"That's not what I was talking about." Tony wrinkled his nose in disgust as he pushed the masked mans head off his lap. "Why do I have to help you, what the hell am I getting out of it?"  
  
"Well, you'll get away from that super sexy super soldier of yours for a while." Deadpool hummed as Tony froze. "And you'll be spending more time with yours truly!"  
  
"How did you…"  
  
"The sexual tension is hard to miss, Iron Daddy." Deadpool sat his head back onto the billionaires lap, receiving no resistance this time around. "Though, I'm a much better choice." Tony lowered his eyes to meet the whites of the mercs mask, his expression almost unreadable. "I mean, what's flawless skin when you've got a KILLER personality?"  
  
It took a few moments for the words to sink in but when they did, Tony couldnt help but crack a smirk. Tony may not agree with the mercs tactics, or career for that matter, but damn if he didn't enjoy his quippy jokes and puns.  
  
"Oh? Did I just make Daddy smile?" Amusement laced Deadpools words as Tony cocked an eyebrow. "Yes, we did, shut up it was not a bad joke."  
  
"Oh, it was bad." Tony snorted as he pushed the merc off his lap once more, taking the opportunity to stand. "I just have a terrible sense of humor."  
  
"Nothing about Tony Stark is terrible." Deadpool kicked his feet up on the coffee table as he so obviously admired Tonys form. "Wait no, your ass is tearable, I could definitely tear it up."  
  
"Say no more." Tonys smirk fell from his lips as he rolled his eyes at the flirty merc. "Seriously, what is with you and my ass?"  
  
"Its delectable!" Deadpool exclaimed as he lifted his arms up, using his gloved hands to outline the shape of Tonys body in the air. "Damn near the most amazing ass I've ever seen."  
  
"Near?" Tony cocked his brow. "Now you've caught my attention."  
  
"Ah, don't worry, I don't touch minors." Deadpool clasped his hands together in front of him. "Yours is the only ass I want Iron Daddy."  
  
"Oh, what would I ever do if you hadn't clarified." Tony rubbed his temples as he took in Deadpools reply. "Don't look at the kids ass, seriously, stay away from Spider-man."  
  
"That's just not something I can promise, Dadio." Deadpool laid his head back on the cushioned couch. "But, if you help me out, I could give it a shot?"  
  
"A shot?" Tony narrowed his eyes, he really didn't like the way Deadpool talked about Peter. Talking about Peter was one sure fire way to get decked by the billionaire.  
  
"Fine, Ill guarantee his exclusion from my mercenary banter, if you agree to help me get to my best beastie pal." Deadpool sat up, swiftly whipping his legs off the table.  
  
"Or, I could just blow you to kingdom come."  
  
"Oh? You can blow me anywhere you want." Deadpool quirked his white eyes. "No objections here."  
  
"Oh, if I wanted to blow you I wouldn't have asked." Tony cocked his brow as he continued. "You'll leave the kid out of your shenanigans if I do this?"  
  
"You make it sound like i'm some kind of maniac!" Deadpool exclaimed dramatically.  
  
"You are a maniac." Tony clarified as he rolled his eyes. "Okay, I get it. Ill help you and your knock off teenage mutants with your super secret infiltration."  
  
"Fantastic, and in the meantime I get to spend time with my favorite tin man." Deadpool clapped as he stood up from the couch. "If you get a bit rusty, let me know, I don't mind oiling you up a bit."  
  
"Id sooner go to Justin Hammer for assistance." Tony said in a mocking tone as he pulled his phone out if his back pocket, swiping once across the screen. "There's my information, let me know when we are leaving and where to meet up. Now if you'll please leave my suite in a civil manner, i'd much appreciate it."  
  
"You and your magical gadgets are so hot." Deadpool winked as he headed for the door. "Ill be back in the morning."  
  
Tony attempted to reject his self invite only to be cut off by a familiar female voice.  
  
"See you in the morning, Sir Funkalot."  
  
Tony narrowed his eyes and let out and annoyed breath as the Mercenary disappeared though the door, leaving him alone with his, apparently, deviant AI.  
  
"I am so reprogramming you when I get back to the compound."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ones kind of short but like honestly I'm not consistent on chapter lengths haha... Sometimes it'll be long sometimes short as hell and I hope that doesn't bother you.  
> Anyways, enjoy and please ignore typos... I found some in my earlier chapters that I need to go back and fix but as always, it's hard to find typos in ones own work... Especially when you've read it a billion times.  
> I need to get a proof reader lmao.
> 
> (Sorry for not updating in like... forever.)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhodey is a protective bestie but Tony never listens,  
> Deadpool is honestly soft as hell.

"Tony, please rethink this." Rhodeys voice begged through the telephone speaker. "If its Steve you're trying to get away from, we can move him to another building, or hell you can come stay with me for awhile until you're ready to talk."  
  
"Its not about Steve, Rhodey." It wasn't a total lie, Tony wasn't just leaving to get away from Steve, he was also doing it to protect Peter. "I just think its a good opportunity."  
  
"To what? Align yourself with a murderous psychopath?" Rhodey asked, exasperated. "What exactly does "good opportunity" entail,Tony because I'm not seeing one damn benefit."  
  
Tony rolled his eyes as he took a sip of orange juice. It was 3:30 am when he called Rhodey, he hasn't been able to get much sleep and thankfully his best friend was wide awake on his was to China right about now.  
  
"Okay, maybe its not so bad to help out the X-men, but do you have to do it with… Wade Wilson?" Rhodey said the name with as much disgust as he could muster, at least… That's the way it sounded to Tony. "Why don't you just ditch him and meet up with Colossus or something?"  
  
"Well I would but its basically impossible to skip out on him now." Tony clicked his tongue as leaned against the counter. "F.R.I.D.A.Y., the little traitor, will just tell him where I'm at."  
  
"What?" Rhodeys confused tone was relatable as hell right now because he was just as confused as Rhodey was. How had Deadpool even gotten the AI to like him? "Dont you control her? What do you mean?"  
  
"She calls him Sir Funkalot." Tony massaged his eye lids with his finger and thumb. "Hes corrupted my own creation, imagine what he'd do to Peter."  
  
"He corrupted F.R- wait… is that what this is about Tony?" Rhodeys change of tone could be caught through the phone. Instead of curious he had fallen back to concerned, yet firm. "The kid is Spider-Man tony. He's seventeen, and hes literally got superhuman strength, i'm pretty sure he can take care of himself."  
  
"I know he can take care of himself, but I just don't want him to fall into the wrong crowd." Tony sighed as he sat down his glass of orange juice. "The kids so pure he'd probably think he could befriend Deadpool and I just don't see anything good coming from that."  
  
"Tony-"  
  
"I appreciate the concern, really, I do." Tony cut him off. "But I'm gonna do this regardless of what you say because, honestly, when have I ever been a good listener?"  
  
"Tony I-"  
  
"Oh look at the time, I'm late!"  
  
"Late? Tony its 4 am."  
  
"Yoga class starts super early today."  
  
"Yoga? You don't do yoga."  
  
"Well then maybe its about time I start, no?"  
  
"Tony don't you da-"  
  
Tony swiped left, hanging up on Rhodey before he could even finish his sentence.  
  
Tony understood Rhodeys point of view, honestly, he really did. He knew he shouldn't be going anywhere with Deadpool, not even to rescue a fellow hero in need, but Tony also knew he didn't wanna go back to the tower and he didn't want Deadpool corrupting his young mentee, so this was his only choice. Well the only choice that didn't involve violence and forcing Bruce, who has been missing since the whole Ultron incident, to create one of those neck things they had at Rikers for mutants so he could successfully kill Wade.  
  
"Boss, Sir Funkalot is being asked to be allowed into your room, shall I unlock the door?" F.R.I.D.A.Y. spoke snatching Tonys attention away from his opaque screen.  
  
"Now you're asking?" Tony scoffed. "Whats he even doing here so early?"  
  
"He seems rather frantic."  
  
"Frantic?" Tony cocked an eyebrow as he lifted his hand, motioning toward the door. "Alright, let him in."  
  
Tony heard the shifting of a door handle and before he could even regret his actions, Deadpool tumbled into the room, his suit torn and blood pouring all over the expensive plush carpet.  
  
"What the hell happened to you?" Tony asked as he stepped toward Wade, helping to support him.  
  
"I had a few friends drop by for a visit from my last job." Deadpool said nonchalantly. "Don't worry, they're dead now."  
  
"Oh yes, how reassuring to know that the man I'm gonna be working with just murdered a few people." Tony rolled his eyes as he helped wade stumble to the couch. "I'm assuming I don't have to do anything for you, you'll just heal yourself?"  
  
"Yeah, don't you worry about me, I've got this in the bag." Deadpool laid down on the couch, letting out a muffled pained groan as his abdomen stretched. "Though I am kind of hungry."   
  
Tony wanted to walk away, head back to his bed right across the room and up the loft, really, he did. But of course his judgement, and humanity, got the better of him and he turned right around and sifted through the fridge.  
  
Tony isn't the best cook, in fact he rarely cooked at all to be honest. It didn't mean he couldn't, hes done it before, it just means he doesn't have much experience, which is something the billionaire is not used to saying.  
  
"Pancakes okay?" Tony sighed as he pulled out the eggs. "Tha'ts about all I know how to make."  
  
"Wait, you're gonna cook something?" Deadpool sat up quickly, wincing in pain as he did. "I just assumed you'd order room service."  
  
Tony didn't justify him with an answer, instead opting to focus on making their breakfast.  
  
"No, that doesn't mean anything. Shut up White." Wade mumbled from the couch. "Yellows right, if he hated us he wouldn't be making us pancakes."  
  
Tony rolled his eyes as he watched the batter bubble, flipping the golden side outward. Despite his inexperience in the cooking world, he did make some pretty mean pancakes. He used to make them all the time in college when Rhodey came to hangout.  
  
"I didn't know you could make such perfect pancakes, Iron Buns." Deadpool commented as Tony sat his plate in front of him on the coffee table.  
  
"There are a lot of things people don't know about me." Tony shrugged as he grabbed his orange juice and chugged the rest of the glass. "All healed up?"  
  
"I healed about ten minutes ago, while you were busy bubbling my breaded goodness."  
  
"One, don't ever say it like that again." Tony sat his glass in the sink. "Two, why are you here so early?"  
  
"Well, its time to go, of course." Wade answered, shoving half a pancake in his mouth. "These are delicious, though I could use some hot sauce."  
  
"Its four o'clock in the morning." Tony furrowed his brows before his expression turned to one of disgust. "And you will not be putting hot sauce on those in my presence, that's disgusting."  
  
"Don't knock it til you try it." Deadpool shoved the rest of the pancake into his mouth before standing up and pulling his mask back down.  
  
Tony tried not to focus on the burnt skin, he already knew what the merc looked like under that suit and it was not pretty. Tony had seen some disgusting things but, after hacking into the shield files a few years back and discovering the true image of Wade Wilson, he'd yet to see anything more horrifying than his forever sore skin. Just the sight of it made Tonys skin sting, he couldn't even imagine how painful it had to be to move with those unhealing scars scattered about all over his body.  
  
"Also, perfect time to get a move on." Deadpool headed toward the door. "Dopinder is outside, lets not leave my brown teddy waiting."  
  
Tony let out an annoyed sigh before directing his extra suit to fly back to the Avengers HQ. He already had his nano tech, no need to have an extra suit flying around New York chasing after him.  
  
"Fine, lead the way, Dennis the Menace." Tony chirped as he followed after the red clad anti-hero.  
  
"Oh~ I like the reference grandpa." Wade playfully chirped back as the two made their way down to the bottom floor of the Beekman Hotel.

***  
  
Tony snuggled into the warmth of whatever the hell was next to him. It was soft. soft and warm and comfortable and it smelt kinda… tangy? A bit metallic but he couldnt complain. He was comfortable and god it was the best sleep he'd gotten in months. Who would've thought he'd get a nice rest in a tiny cab. Cuddled up to… wait... What was he cuddled up to?  
  
Tony felt something sift through his hair. It felt nice, don't get him wrong, but it also set of alarm bells. Tonys eyes flew open and he immediately felt embarrassed, not that he would let that show, he was Tony Stark for Christ sake.  
  
"Hey there my sleepy Sugar Daddy." Deadpools whites narrowed a bit as his mask crinkled in the same familiar way. "You feeling well rested?"  
  
"Don't get ahead of yourself, you're barely suitable to be a stiff cushion let alone a comfortable pillow for proper rest." Tony scoffed as he lifted himself from Deadpools shoulder. "How long have I been out?"  
  
"Long enough to be pulling up to my apartment." Deadpool replied as the Cab came to a stop in front of an old rustic apartment complex. "Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, boy is her name a mouthful, will meet with us in a while."  
  
"Negason- who?" Tony licked his lips before pulling his darkened sun glasses out of his jacket pocket. "You know what, never-mind, I don't care. Lets just get inside that rickety building you call a home before I change my mind."  
  
"The bed is a lot less rickety, if you'd like to get a closer look at it." Deadpools right white twitched, and Tony couldn't help but let out an exhaustive sigh at the mercs attempt to wink. "Though no guarantees that its as soft as any of your stuff, I'm just a poor minimum wage worker of course."  
  
"I wouldn't classify highly paid mercenary work as minimum wage." Tony rolled his eyes as the two of them finally stepped into Wades apartment. "Would it kill you to learn to use a trashcan?" Tony crinkled his upper lip in disgust as he nudged a Chinese takeout container with his foot.  
  
"I cleaned up before I set out to recruit you." Deadpools mask crinkled in a familiar way and Tony couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Usually I wouldn't pick up my dirty laundry but… For Iron Daddy, a little cleaning is nothing."  
  
"If this is your clean, id hate to see your dirty."  
  
"Oh I can get plenty dirty." Deadpools voice dripped with sexual intent but Tony brushed it off, after seeing such a dirty space, Tony just felt nauseous.  
  
"I'm not sleeping on that couch." Tony glanced over at the broken back couch, containers of leftovers littered across the cushions.  
  
"You can sleep in my bed." Deadpool continued through the dirty open living room, leading Tony toward a wooden door on the far right side of the apartment, just across the opening to the kitchen. "Welcome to my humble abode~" Deadpool swung his door open to reveal a surprisingly clean room.  
  
"Its... Clean." Tony spoke, surprise lacing his words.  
  
"Told you he would appreciate it." Wade bragged to himself. "You said he wouldn't but he does! No yellows right, you did too!"  
  
Tony ignored Wades self banter as he stepped into the tan carpeted room. The walls were a bit stained with a reddish tint… but that's not something Tony wished to dissect at the moment. To be honest, the whole prospect of being in another mans room was kind of freaking him out. He hadn't been in another mans room aside from Peter's, who doesn't count, obviously. since… well, since Steve. Tony clenched his jaw as he tried to push the blonde soldier out of his thoughts. One of his reasons for coming here was to avoid the super soldier, how was gonna do that if he couldn't stop thinking about him?  
  
"And this is for you." Wade handed over a small pile of blankets and pillows. "I washed these especially for you."  
  
Tony snapped back to reality as the soft fabric settled in his hands. The blanket was a plush apple red with golden swirls, matching the golden silk fabric that encased the pillow Wade had just handed him.  
  
"I see You've really though this through." Tony cocked his eyebrow as he noticed the Iron Man color scheme in the works. "How'd you even know i'd say yes?"  
  
"I actually thought I was gonna have to bring you by force." Wade replied as he straightened out the black sheet on his bed.  
  
"What were you gonna do? Break into the tower, hit me with a dart gun and abduct me?"  
  
"That's exactly what I would've done!" Deadpool exclaimed as he turned back toward the billionaire. "You really are smart."  
  
"And your stupidity far exceeds my understanding."  
  
"Ooohhh, right through the heart." Deadpool clenched his chest at the insult as he stepped toward Tony. "A kiss will make it better."  
  
"That's totally illogical." Tony cocked his eyebrow at the flirty merc. "I fail to see how a kiss will heal anything considering how filthy the human mouth is."  
  
"Touché." Deadpool snapped his fingers before stepping around the genius. "Now get your rest, my little sugar glider, our hunt for my best beastie buddy begins at noon."  
  
Tony heard the bedroom door click before he headed over to the bed. He had to hand it to Wade, despite the filthy apartment, the bed was relatively comfortable.  
  
Tony glance at the alarm clock on the shelf.  
  
6:45 am.  
  
Tony felt a yawn come forth, and though he knew he wouldn't be able to get more than an hours worth of sleep, he decided he might as well try. He folded the pillow under his head and he pulled the blanket up and over his shoulder, snuggling into the slightly uncomfortable yet familiar scent of the loud mouthed merc.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THAT'S RIGHT, I HAVE MORE THAN ONE CHAPTER!  
> THE EXCITEMENT! THE APPLAUSE!!  
> AND THE TYPOS ARE ALL HERE FOR YOU!!!!  
> to ignore...  
> Enjoy!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's more to this recruitment than meets the eye,  
> and what was Peter even thinking?!

 Tony didn't get much sleep; just as he predicted.

By 7:30 he was up and wandering the small apartment. Tonys arc reactor lit the dark room pretty well, which meant he didn't have to wake the sleeping merc who was sprawled out hopelessly on the couch by turning on the lights.  
  
Tony noticed he was still wearing his red and black suit, which the billionaire was sure couldn't have been comfortable. Though Tony couldn't talk, he's hardly ever comfortable without his suit encasing him.

Sure, others say its a front; an armor to protect him from his insecurities… and they'd be right, but its not just about protection and insecurity. Its who Tony is.

He IS Iron man.

The suit is a part of his identity; without it, he'd feel like he was missing an essential component to his mixture of Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist.

Tony rubbed his temples as he continued his trek through the small apartment, his eyes falling on an old beat up laptop.

Now, Tony understood the term “invasion of privacy”, but he was never one to listen. Especially when it peaked his interest. For Thor's sake, he hacked into the pentagon as a mere kid; did anyone really expect him to be good at not invading peoples space? If they didn't want him peaking at the search history they should hide their stuff, not that it would really do them any good.

Tony, of course, didn’t touch the laptop. Instead he just pulled out his phone and flicked the screen to life before swiping across it, opening up a holographic image in front of himself. It took all but five minutes to download every file on wades computer, and after doing so he quickly logged out of the database and headed back to Wades room to investigate his findings.

  
***  
  
“What the hell?” Tony narrowed his eyes at the shit load of pictures of himself. “How’d he even get that image?!”

Tony wasn’t surprised by the images themselves, but instead was dumbfounded as to how the merc had even gotten them without him noticing. He expected to find some stock photos of Cap or himself but... this was much creepier.

The image was of him, as predicted, but it wasn't just some regular reporter photo. The angle seemed to be head on, as if the camera was sitting right in front of him without Tony’s knowledge. In fact, most the images seemed to be that way, and Tony couldn’t help but be a little impressed, yet unsettled. Who had taken these images and how the hell did Wade get them?

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. Trace this photos original digital ID.” Tony spoke as he swiped to yet another close up photo of himself, but this time finding a side view of him inside the Avengers compound.

  
“Right away boss.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. Chirped before going silent as Tony swiped again.

  
He froze at the newest image. An image of him at the airport two years ago. His mask lifted, revealing his bruised face and worn out features. He looked tired, and hurt, and just plain sick. Why would anyone take a picture of him like that? Better yet, who was even in close enough proximity to do so?! The airport was empty of pedestrians, so which of his old avengers pals are taking non-consensual pictures of him and swapping them off to Wade Wilson?

Tony sighed as he studied the picture. It had to have been taken during the fight because he could almost feel the moment it was taken. A large figure stood in the background and Tony almost choked at the sight of Rhodeys suit flying in the sky. Tony couldn't help the guilt that began to rise through his chest. He couldn't help but blame himself for the incident; if he'd just gotten to Rhodey a little sooner... Tony quickly shook the toxic thoughts from his mind. Rhodey had told him a millioin times it wasn't his fault and he'd kill Tony if he fell back into those dark times again. Constant self-loathing, at least the extreme kind, did not look good on the billionaire.

Tony turned his focus back to his own figure in the image; a concerned yet tired look was plastered along his features. Tony could almost feel the worry the image conveyed and just as he felt like he was beginning to recall the exact moment in which it may have taken place, his thoughts were interrupted.

“Boss.” F.R.I.D.A.Y.s voice chirped. “I’ve tracked the image provider.”

“And?”

“It was taken by Karen.”

Tony furrowed his brows as he swiped once more.

“Karen?”

Tony felt like he knew who Karen was but for some reason he couldn’t make out a face.

“Peter Parker’s Suit Assistant Program.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. Clarifies, catching Tony off guard as he stared at the new image.

Tony was staring at the camera spot on, a small, proud smile placed on his lips.

“Peter?”

“Yes, sir.”

Tony hadn’t really been asking The AI the question but she replied anyways, solidifying Tony’s thoughts.

Why would Peter be sending images of Tony to Deadpool? He couldn’t think of any reason the young hero would feel the need to do so, let alone find it acceptable. He couldn’t help but feel like he was being completely duped. Peter was helping Deadpool stalk Tony? Why? What would make Peter do that?

Tony tried to come up with some tangible reason but failed. Peter had been the one to send him after Deadpool after the press conference yesterday. Was this a set up? Had Peter and Deadpool planned this whole thing? Is that why Deadpool knew he was at the Beekman?! Because Peter used Karen to track his suit and told Deadpool his location?! How could Peter do that to him!?

Angry and confused, Tony slipped out of the room and headed toward Wade, who was now wide awake flipping through TV channels. He snatched the small black remote out of the mercs hand and shut the TV off.

“Oh, hey snookums, I didn’t realize you were awake.” Wades mask crinkled, as usual, as Tony shot him a deadly glare.

“You know, I accept you’re a stalking creep but getting my own protege involved is low.” Tony spat as he tossed the remote down on the couch. “What kind of sick game is this? Stalking me and having my own Mentee send you images of me via my own creation?! Really, what the hell is wrong with you?!”

“Huh?” Deadpool looked completely dumbfounded, as if he had no idea what Tony was talking about. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say you’re mad at me.”

“Furious.” Tony glared down at the confused merc. “Quit playing village idiot and fess up.”

“I would but... I have no clue what we’re talking about here.”

“Let’s see if this jogs your screwed up memories.”Tony snapped as he swiped his phone screen, opening Wades photo file.

Silence settled in the room as Wade stared at the holographic images before him. It grated on Tony’s nerves that the merc didn’t even seem a little bit perturbed by the sudden turn of events.

“Oh! You mean my new collection!” Wade finally spoke up as the pieces finally started falling into place. “It’s totally not what you think.”

“What I think is that you manipulated my boy genius into photo stalking me like some kind of P.I.”

“Wow, it’s almost what you think.” Deadpools eyes widened. “But I didn’t manipulate anyone.”

Tony wanted to believe that Wade was lying. He really did, but something told him Peter had sent those images of his own accord.

Tony ignored that something that was telling him anything because it definitely wasn’t an anything he wanted to believe.

“Don’t get mad at Petey,” Deadpool began. “He was j-“

“Petey!?” Tony clenched his jaw at the mercs friendly nickname, when did Deadpool find out Peters identity.

“Yeah, let me explain.” Wade stood up, placing his hands on Tonys shoulders, making the smaller man flinch. “Pete asked for my help in New York.”

Tony narrowed his eyes as he pulled his shoulders out of the mercs reach.

“Last week, our favorite little web slinger showed up in front of me while I was on the job.” Wade said calmly before seeing Tonys sudden panic and quickly adding. “He wanted me to sorta save someone I guess... not usually what I do but it sounded interesting.”

Tony narrowed his eyes once more before cocking his eyebrow, signaling for Wade to continue.

“But of course, poor, broke Petey ain’t got any money so I arranged a different kind of deal.”

“And that’s where the creepy photos of me came into the equation?” Tony spoke up as he rolled his eyes. “What exactly is worth photos of me?”

“Well, I didn’t actually know what the job specifics were before I accepted the job and asked for payment..." Wade trailed.

“You just accept any job thrown your way!? Do you even check to see if your victims are innocent or not!?”

“Hey, this time it was a rescue!” Wade shrugged his shoulders as he leaned back. “Didn’t know the kid was asking me to rescue Iron Daddy from an awkward first weekend with his ex, Captain Freaking America.”

“Peter- What?” Tony reeled back as he processed the mercs words.

Peter had hired Deadpool, murderous merc with a mouth, to whisk him away for the weekend? 

Tony let out a puff of air as he ran his hand over his face.

Was Peter really that worried about him and the Cap fiasco? So worried that he hired the most persistently annoying bastard on the planet to rescue Tony from his own relationship problems? Just so Tony wasn't uncomfortable?

As sweet as the gesture was, Tony was gonna have to have a talk with the kid about his methods. Seriously, he could’ve just asked Tony to spend time with him and May, or something with less... Wade Wilson.

“I... ugh.” Tony let out an annoyed sigh as he plopped down next to the red clad anti-hero. 

Usually Tony would have been majorly pissed but... just the thought of Peter trying to protect him made his heart fill with pride. Peter really was trying to be Iron Mans right hand man and how could he even be mad at that.

Though, that thought didn't make up for the fact that he was stuck here with Deadpool under false pretenses.

Which led Tony back to the whole Wolverine situation.

"Is Wolverine even really in trouble or was that just some made up bullshit to get me here?" Tony quirked his eyebrow at the merc.

"Oh no, Wolvie is definitely being held captive in a psychotic, torturous, highly secured prison right now." Deadpool quickly clarified. "But recruiting you was Petes idea... at first he just wanted me to annoy you to visit us but then I got to talking about blowing Wolvie out the joint and he laid out this whole presentation about the perks of recruiting Tony Stark."

"Oh.." Was all Tony said as he let the information sink in.

Peter really was a good kid. Helping Tony escape Steve, though definitely not how he'd preferred, whilst also working some kind of rescue mission into the mix to prevent Deadpools rampage.

God, Tony definitely picked the perfect Protege. 

"Alright, fine," Tony huffed as he rubbed his hand over his face. "But you're gonna delete those pictures of me."

“You’re gonna stay? By choice?” Wades whites widened as he slid a pair of handcuffs out of one of his pouches. “Damn, and here I was actually looking forward to using these on you.”

“Handcuffs? Did you forget I’m Iron Man?” Tony Gave the merc a dumbfounded look as he snatched he handcuffs out of his hand. “And come on, at least make ‘em the sexy fur kind if your gonna cuff me to anything.”

“Oh? Damn, if I would’ve known you would be so willing I would’ve bought some toys.” Wades voice dripped with lewd intent.

“Not willing, just amused by your choice of chains and whips.” Tony smirked as he tossed the cuffs into the table. “Would’ve taken you for the sub type.”

“Oh, I can do sub.” Wade chuckled as he picked the TV remote back up and flipped on the TV. “Subway has the best subs.”

Tony let out a snort at the mercs attempt at naive innocence before kicking his feet up in front of him.

“What’re we watching, Red Riding hood?” Tony said as he crossed his arm over his chest, letting out a yawn. “Anything not completely filled with Teletubbies is fine with me.”

“Awe, that knocks out like all of my favorite shows.” Deadpool groaned as he flipped through the channels. “Guess we’ll have to settle with Gumby.”

And Tony didn’t even think to take that as a joke because honestly, He wouldn’t put it past the childish idiot. It’s a good thing he didn’t too, because the guitar and drums of the Gumby theme song started up from the TV in front of him as the horribly sung lyrics reverberated in the room.

Tony rolled his eyes as a small, almost unnoticeable smirk fell on his lips. He’d never admit it but the merc was actually kind refreshing, even if he did enjoy watching annoying, horribly made clay model children's shows. Seriously, who even thinks of this crap?

"Wait, do I really have to delete those photos?" Deadpools voice spoke up as Tonys demand finally sunk in.

Tony didn't even look away from the TV as he shot out his reply.

"Absolutely."

 

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHAHAHAHA!  
> I BET YOU DIDN'T EXPECT YET ANOTHER UPDATE!!!  
> WELL, TIS I, BACK AGAIN!!  
> RISEN FROM THE DEPTHS OF UNI FINALS WITH A FRIED BRAIN,  
> AND A CHAPTER OF NONSENSICAL PLOY!!  
> LAUGHTER! LOVE! AND....  
> *CUE THE MUSIC*  
> TYPOOOSSSSSSSSS......
> 
> I am literally obsessed with my typos and i'm not even sure why (I'm not even about fixing them)....  
> the beauty of flaws does the human make i suppose.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony’s mission does not go as smoothly as it should have... where the hell was Deadpool?!

Tony crept down the empty hallway of the Berkins drug facility. The security system hadn’t been hard to override and the staff was even easier to disarm. All it really took was a single man, granted the man was six feet of steel.

“All clear this way, Grandpa Shades.” The short haired Teen whispered Tony’s way as she rounded the corner.

“Listen, Negasonic Teenbop, if you keep calling me a gramps or pointing out my age I’m gonna have to call home to your parents.” Tony joked as he slid along the wall next to her as they waited for the signal from their scarred merc that it was safe to proceed.

“Ohhh, gonna skip the whole sending me to the principals office? Bold.” The teen cracked as they rounded the corner. “So, what’s the deal with you and Douche-pool?”

“Deal?” Tony cocked his eyebrow. “I’m just helping out the lunatic because my protege had some misguided idea that this would fix my circumstances for a short while.”

“So, no romance?”

“We’re taking it slow.” Deadpool suddenly chimed in through their earbuds, obviously peeping in on the conversation.

Deadpool had insisted he tag along with the two of them, stating he’d be a great asset if things went awry but Tony was hearing none of it. The Merc was sloppy, and by sloppy, Tony meant the damn guy couldn’t stop himself from taking a murderous blow. Tony already knew he was breaking a few laws by breaking into a ‘pharmaceutical’ production building, but he thought it may be crossing the line a bit too much if he brought Deadpool with him.

Charges for breaking an entering for the greater good, Tony could fight. Charges for accessory to murder? Not so much.

Plus, the idea of bringing Deadpool into the facility where they’d abducted Wolverine for having a similar healing factor was an all around bad idea. If things did go awry, keeping the super healing merc as far away from the scene as possible was the ideal plan. If he’s not there, there’s no risk of catching him, and Tony wouldn’t have to worry about rescuing two morons in the same day.

“By ‘taking it slow’, he means we’re taking it nowhere.” Tony corrected the merc as he rolled his eyes. “Strictly professional relations here, which should end after we get through that door and rescue your furry friend from this glorified prison.”

Deadpool let out a few words of disagreement but Tony ignored them as he and Ellie came upon the final door.

Tony rolled his shoulders as he stepped forward, pulling out a small pocket knife. He flipped the blade out, sliding the sharp edge under the finger pads metal end, popping open the circuit board.

He narrowed his eyes as he studied the inter looping wires, tracing their connections.

“Okay, I’ll give this my best shot.” Tony scoffed as he brought the knife under one of the copper wires. “If we die, just know I never appreciated you, Wade.”

Ellie let out a snort as she watched Tony flick the sharp edge upward, slicing through a small patch of wires. The screen on the pad flickered before going black; an almost inaudible click sounding from the crack between the metal doors.

“Awe, Buns, I know you appreciate my constant compliments and lusting.” Wade chimed. “When we get home I’ll make sure to tie you down and give you a thorough-“

“Ew, I don’t wanna hear about your imaginary grandpa sexcapades.” Teenbop gagged at Tony for emphasis, making the billionaire chuckle. “Seriously, maybe he’s just not that into you?”

Tony couldn’t help but smirk at the girls reference as he placed his fingers as far in between the doors as possible, pushing them open with a grunt. The doors slid relatively easily, though the audible grind from the bolts made Tony flinch.

“They really need to grease the hinges on this damn thing.” Tony complained as he slid through the opening. “Jeese, have some common courtesy and make sure it’s easy for me to open the door quietly when I’m breaking and entering.”

“I’ll be sure to send them a letter regarding your request, Boss.” F.R.I.D.A.Y.s voice spoke up from the headphones, making Ellie snort at the AIs sarcastic remark.

“Hey, DONT get snippy with me young lady.” Tony chastised as he slid through the opening in the door. “I’m starting to think all this time around ‘Douche-pool’ is really affecting your learning curve.”

“Apologies, Boss.”

Tony could tell she didn’t mean it, the AI had developed an affinity for teasing him. He had no clue what triggered this sudden change in artificial personality but he didn’t actually mind, he appreciated her banter, reminded him of J.A.R.V.I.S.

“Is that...” Teenbops voice cracked as she laid eyed on the figure hanging on the wall. “Logan? Aw sick.”

Tony cocked an eyebrow at her remark as he studied the figure. It was definitely Wolverine, bruises and all. The way his head tilted forward definitely signaled some form of drug, or torture, if they made him tired enough.

“It could be worse.” Tony commented as he ran his hand over his arc reactor, activating his nanos. “He could be dead.”

The red armor spread over Tony in a smooth fashion, like a caramel coating. At least, that’s the way Deadpool would describe, because he’s a fucking pervert and Tony honestly had no clue why he was even thinking about how Deadpool would describe anything about himself.

Tony shook his head as he activated his thrusters, rising to Wolverines level.

“Alright, cupcake, Lets get you out of here.” Tony raised his hands to the cuffs, ready to yank them off the wall only for a loud bang to sound from behind him. “Teenbop what the hell-“

Tony was cut off when something struck the back of his suit, causing him to lurch forward and get a bit too close and personal with the unconscious mutant in front of him.

Tony spun around, shooting his repulsor in the general direction of his attacker before quickly turning back to Wolverine and yanking him off the wall in a less careful manner than he had originally planned. Avoiding another shot, Tony darted to the right as he threw the mutant hero over his shoulder.

“The welcome party was a little late, don’t you think?” Tony quipped as he landed on the ground behind a pillar, laying Wolverine down against the large structure before stepping around it, holding both his hands out. “I mean, how longs a guy gotta wait to get a drink around here?”

Tony counted twelve men in total, with more likely to come. Why hadn’t Wade warned them? What the hell?!

“Hey, Deadman, couldn’t have warned us before hand?” Tony griped as he shot a repulsor at one of the men, sending them backwards before another bullet struck his shoulder. “I thought you cared about my well being.”

No immediate response came and Tony let out an annoyed grunt as he looked over to Ellie who was busy trying to control the amount of damage she was emitting. They didn’t want the whole building to blow, not when there were innocent people several floors above.

Tony shot down another two men before he heard it. The loud ‘zapping’ noise echoed across the room, covering up the gun shots and pained groans of his attackers. Tony should’ve turned sooner; should’ve turned immediately after hearing the shocks, but he hadn’t thought that they were that close; hadn’t expected them to be so fast.

The first shock had alerted his systems.

The second shock had put enough pressure to fry a few nanobots, which were quickly replacing themselves.

The third shock connected directly with his clothing, right through the still uncovered hole where his nanobots were recuperating.

The fourth shock shot through his back like lighting and made his legs give out.

Tony collapsed to his knees as he clenched his teeth. Pushing through the pain, he turned back toward his assailant, grabbing hold of the prod before it could send another jolt through his back. He blasted the guard backwards, knocking him to the ground and throwing the prod off to the side as he focused on checking his suits damage.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y status report.” Tony demanded as he shot another repulsor at a guard. He winced in pain as he attempted to stand up, something about that last shock wasn’t right.

“All systems functional.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. Reported back. “It seems the prod had a sensory agent applied to it, Boss.”

“Great.” Tony growled as he raised a shield around himself. “Time?”

“Unsure.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. Replied. “It’s an unknown concoction, perhaps one developed at the facility itself.”

“It just keeps getting better.”

Tony clicked his tongue as a loud explosion sounded from outside his barrier. Things were getting heavy if Teenbop was creating explosions that big, and Tony couldn’t even help.

“Gimme visuals.” Tony demanded and the AI quickly accessed the security cameras in the room.

Ellie stood not too far from his shield, guards surrounding her as she pushed them back with small explosions. A few men shot at his barrier to no avail and he spotted two other men lifting Wolverines body. Tony hadn’t expected things to be this complicated, where the hell was Wade when these guys headed their way?

“Damnit.” Tony groaned as he chewed his bottom lip in frustration. “F.R.I., tell Her to bring down the ceiling.”

“Sir, are you sure, there are numerous heavy equipments located on the floor above.” The AI responded, concern lacing its words. “There’s a 97% chance she can recover the objective while escaping, but the percentage of you making it out before the collapse is significantly low due to your current circumstances.”

“Yeah, no shit?” Tony huffed as he struggled to move his legs, they tingled in a painful, needlelike way. “Just do it.”

“Yes, Boss.”

Tony let out a frustrated sigh as he lifted himself to his feet, disarming his barrier. His legs hurt like a bitch but at least he could stand. Walking or flying on the other hand? He’d have to see.

The ground shook as another loud explosion rang out. Tony turned his head to find the teen blasting through the columns, knocking back her surrounding attackers before coming to a stop in front of Wolverine. She peered upward as she lugged the other hero over her shoulder and shot Tony an appointed look, as if asking if he’d be okay.

Tony only nodded as he clenched his jaw in pain beneath his visor, taking a step forward, blasting another assailant away from the girl. He wasn’t sure he’d make it out but he sure as hell wasnt gonna put her in anymore danger than she already was. She reminded him of Peter; young, determined, though she was definitely way more a smart ass, but she was still just a kid and he’d be damned if he let a kid get hurt in his watch, even if it meant the opposite for him.

He waved her off, signaling her to go and she titled her head in response as she blasted straight through the last column, bringing down the floors last leg of support. After shooting his one last look she blasted through the metallic covered concrete wall, escaping with Wolverine. At least their objective was complete.

Tony activated his thrusters, finding it hard to control his movement without being able to really control his legs, but he managed to get himself halfway across the room before the ceiling caved in.

A large piece of concrete plunged to the floor in front of him causing Tony to yelp in pain as his suit jerked him backwards, straining the prickling muscles in his lower body.

“Boss, I strongly recommend mo-“

Before F.R.I.D.A.Y. Could finish her sentence, Tony was pressed to the ground. A large metal safe crumbled down over his legs, causing an uncharacteristically girlish scream to fall from his lips; something was definitely broken.

Without time to even push past the pain another large slab of concrete collapsed over top of Tony’s chest, enforced by a large iron desk. Tony struggled to lift his arms to push the weight off but they were pinned down at his sides by the collapsed debris and all Tony could do was sit there.

Tony’s breathing picked up, the pain in his legs was replaced by an excruciating pang in his chest as Tony felt his heart pound in his ears. Suddenly he couldn’t breathe and he could’ve sworn he heard F.R.I.D.A.Y. Talking to him but he couldn’t make out what she was saying.

His body felt like sludge. It was pulsing in pain, matching the beat of his heart in an erratic manner. Tony would’ve ordered his visor open but it was the only thing keeping the debris from his face. His throat constricted and Tony wished he hadn’t agreed to this damn mission.

Rhodey was right, Deadpool was nothing but trouble and now Tony was paying for it. The damn merc couldn’t even keep an eye out for guards from a van, now Tony’s trapped under the carnage of a building having a panic attack.

Tony felt his vision going fuzzy and a weird buzzing noise filled his ears. If he was lucky, the noise was a bomb and it’d just put him out of his misery before he slowly suffocated. One could only hope, right?

Tony let his eyes slide shut as familiar burnet filled his mind.

Peter.

If Tony made it out of this alive, that kid was getting a total earful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really apologize for any typos... it might be worse this time idk, I’m using my phone to update.
> 
> Anyways, who else thinks Tony puts way too many peoples safety above his own?


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony is fed up with blue eyes and responsibility and the avengers and damnit he just needs a break.

Tony felt it.

The pain of caps shield in his chest, the feeling of Thor’s hand around his throat, the sudden inability to breath as he fell from the sky, and even the pulsating pain of shards in his heart.

Blue eyes. Nothing but blue eyes and blonde hair and the feeling that anytime he fell in love, or got close enough to someone he thought he could fall in love with, he’d just be left with another painful memory.

Thor.

Thor had hurt him.

He wasn’t in a relationship with the god, no. At that time he was with Pepper, but he was developing feelings for the big brute. Thor was carefree, honest, and he made Tony laugh. He hadn’t told a damn soul about those developing feelings because they didn’t last long. They were quickly destroyed when Tony created Ultron, after Thor damn near choked him out for using Loki’s scepter.

Okay, that’s a lie. He’d talked to Rhodey about it, and Rhodey hadn’t seen a problem with it because those feelings had flown out the window after that incident. Rhodey just encouraged Tony to stay with Pepper, deeming it his ‘safe zone’. Which also didn’t last long.

Pepper only grew more and more tired of Tony’s problems and, although she would never have left him, Tony couldn’t bare to see her so unhappy. So, he broke things off with Pepper and to cope he picked up exercising, which is how his relationship with Steve began.

Another blonde, blue eyed brute who made him weak in the knees.

At first he hated Cap, but... the soldier had a way of growing on a man, and boy did he grow on Tony.

At first, Tony was scared. Steve didn’t seem like the type to be interested in other men, but to his surprise, Steve made the first move.

They had been training and Steve was actually teaching Tony some self defense when Tony landed a clean upper cut to Steve’s jaw. Tony’s first instinct was to apologize because, to his surprise, the soldier had stumbled a bit, caught off guard, but After a moment Steve turned to Tony with a smile that made the brunet wanna melt.

He was proud. He was proud of Tony for landing a clean, hard hit and just the word proud made Tony wanna cry and laugh all at once. People weren’t proud of Tony very often, which he could care less about that, but the idea that STEVE, his dads favorite topic and his childhood hero, was proud... that made Tony feel all sorts of things.

Tony of course didn’t voice this, instead he cracked another one of his famous self deprecating jokes, which Steve would usually reprimand him for but... this time Steve just looked at him with a sad look in his eyes and Tony couldn’t figure out why. At least until later that night when Tony was half asleep on the couch after movie night and the soldier laid a kiss to his forehead, smoothing his hair back as he covered Tony with a blanket.

Tony hadn’t brought the incident up, instead opting for maximum flirting and then, one day at training, it just happened. Steve snatched him by his waist and pulled him in for a kiss, smashing his lips to Tony’s almost violently, making the brunet moan under the pressure. The kiss didn’t stop there of course.

Tony had lead the blonde back up to his room where Steve pulled him flush against his body before toppling onto Tony’s plush mattress. It wasn’t long before he devoured Tony completely, heart and all.

Tony loved Steve. He loved him so much that he could almost say it hurt, until it actually did. Then Tony just didn’t know what to do.

Steve had destroyed him.

It was Thor all over again, except worse because Thor didn’t know and Tony hadn’t been completely and utterly in love with the blonde god.

Thor was just a crush, but Steve... Steve was so much more than anything Tony had ever had and probably would ever get.

Steve’s face flashed through his mind.

A guilty glance as he witnessed the murder of Tony’s parents.

An unforgiving expression as he brought his shield down on Tony.

Then nothing.

No final glance.

No, are you okay?

Just the image of Steve’s back walking away from him.

Walking away from him with his hand on another mans shoulder.

Don’t get Tony wrong.

He knows Steve was just saving his friend. He gets that Bucky wasn’t in control.

He wasn’t mad Steve had stopped him.

He was mad that Steve had left him. Hadn’t come back. Hadn’t called.

He left a note.

It enraged Tony because Tony was worth nothing but a piece of paper.

He’d hurt Tony and sent a letter telling TONY to call HIM.

Tony hadn’t been completely in the right but damnit he was messed up in the head! He literally just saw his parents get murdered by someone right next to him, so yeah... sue him for having a mental break down!

But Steve was suppose to understand. He was suppose to love Tony.

He understood Buckys circumstances, didn’t he?

He chased the other soldier everywhere to save him but Tony? He’d not even taken a glance back at the billionaire after throwing down his fathers shield.

Just a measly piece of paper, that’s all he got. A piece of paper iterating he was wrong and Steve wasn’t sorry for his actions but instead was sorry Tony couldn’t understand HIM. And that hurt Tony the most, Steve didn’t regret a damn thing. Tony did, Tony regretted his actions but he wasn’t the only one that was suppose to regret that day, right? Wasn’t Steve just as much to blame as him? Was Tony really the only one to blame?

And then Tony’s nightmares increased and his panic attacks became more vivid and he started focusing on a certain shield and cold blue eyes and Tony couldn’t escape.

He was drowning in an ocean of guilt and anger and despair.

Black sludge poured from his mouth as he struggled to scream. His hands clawing at his throat as he fought to remove the hands gripping his neck, threatening to snap every tendon. His chest constricting as he felt the impact of heavy metal grinding, cracking his ribs and shattering his heart.

And suddenly Tony was numb and he was lost and the world was dark and he couldn’t see a damn thing. He was just laying there in the darkness until a familiar voice spoke and he felt warmth surrounding his shoulders. A hand through his hair calmed his racing thoughts and the soft whispers lulled him to sleep, whisking him away from the agonizing memories.

 

 

Tony’s eyes shot open as he sprang upward, his chest giving a firm resistance as it sent a sharp pain up through his body. Tony fell back against the thin white mattress as he took a deep, aching breath to calm himself down. He opened his eyes slowly to find himself laying in a hospital bed, a familiar brunet sitting to his right, his head titled to one side as he drooled on his shoulderin a deep sleep.

What was Peter doing here?

Why was he in a hospital?

Tony sat for a moment as the memories flitted through his mind. The sharp pain of his legs being crushed and the stabbing soreness he felt upon his chest.

The ceiling had collapsed and Tony, much like F.R.I.D.A.Y. Had predicted, hadn’t made it out. Tony sat there for another few minutes before he registered the warmth on his forearm. He quickly turned his head to find a familiar scarred merc, no longer wearing his costume, clutching onto his arm as he slept.

Tony immediately bristled at the touch, pulling his arm out of the mercs hold. He hadn’t remembered being pulled out of the rubble of the building but he assumed that merc had something to do with it? Colossus maybe? He wasn’t sure.

“Hey, Iron buns.” Tony snapped his eyes back down at the merc as the scarred lips smiled up at him, blue eyes crinkling in relief. “Good to see you’re awake and kickin’.”

And damnit if Tony didn’t look at those blue eyes and wanna punch him for even looking at him that way. Tony was so done with blue eyes, it wasn’t even funny anymore.

“I wish I was kicking you.” Tony rasped before he licked his dry lips. “Damn, They never did serve those drinks at that welcome party.”

Deadpool hopped up and walked across the room, grabbing a cup and filling it with cold water, dropping a straw in it before waking back and bringing it to Tony’s lips.

“Yeah, they were horrible hosts.” Deadpool chuckled as tony wrapped his lips around the straw, slowly sipping the water to wet his mouth before speaking. “I mean, it’s raise the roof not drop it.”

Tony snorted as he pulled away from the straw, opening his mouth to speak.

“And they didn’t even have any good party music.” Tony complained, leaning back in the his pillows. “On a serious note, where the hell were you?”

Before Deadpool could answer, the hospital room door slammed open to reveal a concerned best friend and an exasperated red head.

“For Christ’s sake Tony, What the hell were you thinking!?” Pepper chastised as she stomped into the room, Wade moving out of her way so the two could file in next to the bed, waking a drowsy Peter from his sleep. “Breaking into a high security drug facility!?”

“Pep liste-“

“No, you listen Tone.” Rhodey cut him off, just as angry and concerned as Pepper. “I told you it was a bad idea and I was right and you shouldn’t have done it. Damnit I should’ve stopped you and made you go home but I thought, ‘Tones a grown man and he can handle himself,’ but boy was I wrong.”

Tony let out an annoyed sigh as Pepper cut back in.

“Not only did you skip out on a congress meeting,” shit Tony forgot about that “you get yourself severely injured and wind up in the hospital whilst breaking the LAW!?” Pepper griped as she rubbed at her temples. “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?”

“I wasn’t, okay?!” Tony snapped as he looked away from the two adults, glancing to his protege and then back to them. “I wasn’t thinking about any of that okay?! I just needed some damn time and I wasn’t getting that at the compound where Steve could harass me and god knows if I’d have gone home you’d have been harassing me and damnit I just need some TIME!”

Pepper clamped her mouth shut and Rhodey stared at him wide eyed.

“The past two years I’ve been to meetings and press conferences and debates and court hearings and damnit I’m tired!” Tony ran his hand through his hair. “I’ve been putting my whole life into this damn, whatever it is, and fuck- I just- I have- I need some TIME!”

Tony took a few deep breaths as he calmed himself down.

“I know you both mean well and I love you but...” Tony trailed as he looked over to Peter and gave the kid a small smile. “The only highlight of my time anymore is mentoring a kid I barely have time to see these days because of all the avengers shit and I just want a break, please.”

Tony’s voice cracked and Peter stood from his chair and pulled his Mentor into a hug and for once Tony let him because god knows he needed it.

The silence was eventually interrupted when Pepper spoke up once again, this time her voice soft and apologetic and somehow reassuring.

“I’ll put you down for a vacation.” Pepper licked her lips as she sat on the edge of Tony’s bed, rubbing his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Tony. I should’ve realized you were... like this.”

“And I should’ve taken it more seriously.” Rhodey spoke up as he took a seat next to Pepper, placing his hand on his. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a crappy best friend.”

Peter finally pulled away from the hug, allowing Tony to look over at his two best friends.

“It’s okay.” Tony smiled as he worried his bottom lip. “I should’ve said something sooner. I just didn’t want everyone to worry and I just made things a thousand times worse and I’m sorry.”

“Oh no, Tony.” Pepper Hugged his head to her chest as she ran her fingers through his hair. “We should’ve noticed you weren’t feeling well. God we are so sorry, Tony.”

Tony let out a shaky breath as he closed his eyes, but not before catching a certain blue eyed merc smile at him as he left the room. Somehow, that smile made his anxiety a little more bearable, that and Peppers head rubs. Tonys eyes slowly slid shut, the soft feeling of Peppers fingers massaging his scalp lulling him back into a peaceful slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ignore typos as always!  
> I’m updating on my phone, like I said last chapter, and I figured I’d upload two chapters since I didn’t update last week.  
> :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony needs to get laid, probably...  
> And F.R.I.D.A.Y. Has a terrible sense of humor.

Tony was not, by any means, working. Well technically he wasn’t officially working. Okay, he was working but no one had to know. Especially Pepper; Pepper could not, by any means, know he was sitting in his lab at 2 a.m., three days after his release from the hospital, doing calculations with his sore leg propped up on his steel bench while he leaned back in his favorite wheely chair.

Tony shivered at the thought of Peppers wrath. He could imagine exactly what she’d say to him too, her tone vicious as it cut through the air, scolding the genius mechanic.

‘Anthony Edward Stark, if you don’t get your ass out of that laboratory right now I’m gonna break you’re other leg and this time we won’t go to the hospital.’

That’s exactly what she would say, that or she’d just call on Rhodey to drag him out of the room with one leg kicking.

Tony rubbed his eyes tiredly as he exited the screen, peering down at the white cast that encased his right leg. He hated it. It was nothing but a nuisance and Tony would’ve already pried the damn thing off if he’d not already been scolded for trying so.

Rhodey had been ready to kick his ass when he found the billionaire holding his miniature saw a mere three inches from the top of his cast. It’d only been two hours since Tony had checked himself out of the hospital and Rhodey had decided to check on him, much to Tony’s dismay. The soldier immediately extracted the saw from Tony’s grasp and ranted about how if he could live without total function over his legs without the use of technology for a few months before Tony was able to create special braces, Tony could survive a few weeks. Tony didn’t want to argue but he wanted to tell the soldier that he wasn’t as strong as him, that if he’d been the one that’d fallen from the sky he’d have refused to get up, but he didn’t because obviously that’s not something he wanted to say to his best friend.

Rhodey was so much stronger than Tony, and Tony instead agreed he could, in fact, live with the cast. Except now Tony regretted agreeing and wanted nothing more than to grab a sledge hammer and brake the cast to pieces, shirk it off and ignore the pain of the broken leg much like he’d ignored the pain of everything else in his life; pretend like it didn’t exist until it came back to bite him in the ass much like he deserved.

Tony could use a drink, whiskey on the rocks or maybe just a shot of tequila would do. He just wanted to forget this past week and never look back and he knew how to do it. Alcohol had never failed him in the past, but Tony had stopped drinking about a year ago. His addiction grew prominently worse after The ‘Civil War’ and it wasn’t long before Pepper threw him into a rehab center.

Tony didn’t wanna disappoint Pepper, or be thrown back into another one of those hell holes. They watched you like a hawk there and Tony liked his privacy, thank you very much.

“Boss, Colonel Rhodes is on the line.”

Tony let out a huff of air as he motioned with his hand, as if the AI could see his movement and interpret it as a go ahead.

“Patch him through.”

It didn’t take very long for Rhodeys voice to sound out from around him.

“Tony, What the hell are you doing up at three a.m.?”

“Two forty five.” Tony corrected like the smart ass he was, making Rhodey let out an annoyed sigh. “Not quite three yet, Sugar Plum, getting a little ahead of yourself there.”

“Fifteen minutes makes no difference.” Rhodey answered as Tony reached for his crutches, Tony wanted to point out that Rhodey was wrong; that fifteen minutes would’ve saved him from even getting a broken leg, but he doesn’t. “Get your ass into bed, I know you’re in that lab and I have half the mind to tell Pepper all abo-“

“No, no no.” Tony quickly cut him off as he pulled himself up. “No need to tell the boss, I’ll go to bed.”

“Good.” Rhodey sighed in relief making a small smirk form on Tony’s lips. “I really didn’t wanna have to call her, waking her up this early isn’t good for anyone.”

“Oh, don’t I know it.” Tony chuckled as he made his way into the elevator. “I’ll talk to you later my little Gummy Bear. Get some rest, don’t you got a meeting with some big Shot or other?”

“Yeah... yeah I do.” Rhodey trailed. “Alright, you get to bed. F.R.I.D.A.Y., if he doesn’t go to bed, call me back so I can yell at him.”

“Of course.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. replied.

“Alright, goodnight Tony.”

By the time Rhodey hung up Tony was already in the kitchen, making a cup of coffee. Much to F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s dismay.

“I’ll be contacting Colonel Rhodes.”

“No, you won’t.” Tony laughed as he leaned against the countertop. “Cancel those orders, no informing Rhodey or Pepper... and turn on a movie in the living room.” Tony yawned.

“Yes, Boss.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. replied as Tony poured his fresh coffee into a mug.

Tony almost snorted at the old classic comedy that his AI picked out. Of course she would pick a movie with her name in it, What was he even expecting. Tony laid one crutch against the kitchen counter and balanced himself on the other, half hopping to the couch whilst trying not to spill his cup of coffee. He plopped down on the couch, turning his attention to ‘His girl Friday’ as he took a sip of his coffee.

“Interesting choice.” Tony snorted to his AI.

“Only the best for you, Boss.” The AI quipped back and that only made Tony’s smirk widen.

F.R.I.D.A.Y. was learning so fast, Tony was impressed. She wasn’t as developed as J.A.R.V.I.S., but she wasn’t far off, of course she also had J.A.R.V.I.S.’s past information and programming installed so it only made sense that she developed at a quicker pace. Though, she was a lot more snarky than his old AI; she always had something to comment on.

***

Tony had to give it to Walter, the guy really didn’t give up, but at the same time he felt horribly for Hildy. What woman would accept a guy like that? They portray her as a tough feminine icon only to leave her scuffling with the mans bags in the end; he’d be damned if Pepper ever followed any man around like that before telling them to scoot. Hell, Tony’d tell them to scoot for her.

A knock at the door just as the credits rolled made Tony jump. Who the hell would be visiting at four a.m.?

“Sir, you have a visitor.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. spoke as Tony stood from his spot on the couch, leaning into his crutches.

“Thanks for pointing out the obvious.” Tony rolled his eyes. “Who is it?”

“You asked me not to inform Colonel Rhodes or Miss. Potts.” The AI answered as Tony made his way toward the door. “So I informed a third party that I found trustworthy.”

“A third?” Tony furrowed his brows in confusion. “Who?”

“I’m sure you will find him to be of great help.” The AI was obviously avoiding an actual reply and that was only making Tony nervous and anxious. “I’m not quite sure of your relationship at the moment but I assessed that he does care a great deal about your well being.”

Tony let out an annoyed sigh as he stepped up to his penthouse door. Why the hell was his AI being so sneaky? The only other person that Tony could think that’d be appropriate to call would be Peter but... the kid had school at eight a.m.

The billionaire wracked his brain for any idea as to who the AI could’ve possibly called. Natasha May have been a liable answer but he was almost positive that F.R.I.D.A.Y. Wouldn’t have brought any of the avengers here, not when Tony had expressed his dislike in any and all matters involving them at the moment.

“I really need a drink.” Tony licked his lips as he finally pulled the door open.

Tony’s mouth fell open as he tried to register why the hell his AI would think it was a good idea to contact the man standing in front of his door. Where, in any situation, would she deem it necessary to inform Wade Wilson of his activities and health issues?

“-rought pizza and beer.” Deadpool dawned a large black hoodie, the hood pulled up over a dark blue baseball cap. “Thought you’d be hungry.”

Tony stood stock still for a few moments as he struggled to grasp the current situation. What. The. Fuck?

“Boss, I called upon Sir Funkalot to keep you company.” F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s voice held a hint of mirth and Tony would be damned if he didn’t find that prospect a little entertaining. “I assume you’ve come to that conclusion but you seemed quite confused.”

“Yeah, thanks for clarifying detective.” Tony finally snapped back as he rolled his eyes. “I don’t drink.”

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s the alcohol free kind.” Wade winked as he lifted the box of pizza up, balancing it on his head as he pulled the cans of ‘beer’ out of the bag in his other hand.

Tony cocked an eyebrow, slightly amused as he read the labels.

“Root-beer?” Tony snorted as he snatched the cans out of Wades hands. “Fine, don’t drop the pizza though or I’m kicking you out and drinking all of these by myself.”

Wade swiftly grabbed hold of the pizza and followed the billionaire inside.

Tony placed the cans on the coffee table as he sat back down in his spot on the couch.

“I wasn’t expecting such Victorian furniture.” Wade flopped down next to him as he tossed the pizza down on the table, flipping the lid open to reveal a meaty abomination that Tony knew couldn’t be healthy but would be delicious nonetheless.

“It was my grandmothers.” Tony stated blandly as he reached for a slice of the meaty goodness. “I like the old timey feeling.”

“That why you liked Captain Sweetass?” Wade joked, causing Tony to just about choke on his pizza. “You like things that could use a bit of polishing up, if you know what I mean.”

“Wasn’t much polishing to do.” Tony cracked open a cold can and took a gulp. “Didn’t last very long before he stepped out for a nice stroll with some new dame.”

“Long flowing locks?” Wade smirked as he stuffed his mouth with his own slice of pizza. “Bet she had an accent that could knock a man on his ass.”

“To die for, literally.” Tony took another bite as he leaned back into the soft cushions of the couch.

“Accents, you cant beat ‘em.” Wade looked toward Tony, his blue eyes crinkling at the edges.

“You can sure as hell try.” Tony averted his eyes as he took another gulp of his Root-beer, and he couldn’t pin why the hell his chest felt so tight. Was he having an anxiety attack?

“Boss, would you like me to play another movie?” F.R.I.D.A.Y. Must’ve sensed Tony’s discomfort.

“Yeah, you choose.” Tony ordered once more as he placed his can on the oak wood table, relieved at the change of topic. “Something classic.”

“Of course.”

Tony glanced back toward the merc to find him facing the large screen. He couldn’t help but notice that he hadn’t removed his hat. Aside from his face and hands, the rest of his scarred flesh was covered.

Was Wade self-conscious?

Tony knew he’d be self-conscious if his skin looked like that but... Wade? Did Wade really care what others thought? It didn’t seem like he would but Tony knew, by the looks of it, that it was the complete opposite. Wade was actually very self conscious. The thought made the merc seem just a little more human.

Tony smirked at the way Wade scanned the screen, his full focus on the grainy, shaky film playing before them. He should’ve been bothered by his company, he knew he shouldn’t be hanging out with the merc. Especially since he still didn’t know what the hell had happened at the research facility.

Tony had attempted to figure out what’d happened himself, only to be shot down. He’d asked their X-men company but... Colossus had refused to speak about it, claiming it was a private matter and Teenbop had been with him at the time. If she knew anything she wasn’t letting on about it.

Should he ask now?

Tony glanced back over at Wade who was engulfed in the old movie before them and he decided against it. He could wait for that answer. It probably wouldn’t be good anyways and Tony kinda didn’t wanna ruin the company he had right now because, though he’d never admit it out loud, it was kind of nice having someone over, even if it was the mouthy merc.

Tony shook his head and turned his attention to the TV as he finally registered the movie and let out an amused grunt.

“You would choose T-Men.” Tony scoffed at the AI. “You and your terrible taste in movie titles.”

“It suited the moment.”

Tony’s smile grew as Wade let out a deep chuckle.

“Shes clever.” Wade smirked, looking Tony’s way. “At least she makes good puns.”

“It’s almost as if someone else’s horrible sense of humor is rubbing off on her.” Tony shot back.

“I could rub something off on you too.” Wades smirk grew as he shot the genius a wink. “Probably in you too, if you want.”

Wade turned his attention back toward the screen as gunshots rang out from the speakers.

Tony had meant to respond in his regular snark. He had, but the mercs words sent a hot wave through his chest down to his stomach and that had made He billionaire freeze.

What the hell was that? Tony had never reacted that way when the merc made his perverted jokes. Why the hell had he reacted that way now? Tony knew what that feeling was, he’d felt it millions of times with men and women alike, but there was no way he’d admit it now. Not sitting next to Wade Wilson. Nope. No way in hell.

Tony took a gulp of his Root-beer, cooling himself off as he pushed away the delusional thoughts racing through his mind at the mercs words.

There was no way in hell he was attracted to Wade fucking Wilson.

•

•

•

Right?

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna add two chapters today but I’m a little behind bc we are reflooring my house... sorry!  
> Luckily, I have this chapter for you, though I’m not sure how good it is bc it’s one of the chapters I have mixed feelings about... but I hope you like it anyways!!
> 
> There are probably a lot of typos bc I’m updating through my phone which means I did not go back and proofread... so pls point out any horrible ones you see or ignore them if you wish!
> 
> I hope this isn’t too bad of a chapter, and also, we will be finding out why Wade wasn’t there for Tony in the next chapter. :) in case you were wondering.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony gets his explanation, has a melt down, and then melts...  
> Wade is a good dad.

Tony was not staring. 

No, definitely not staring.

  
He was observing.

  
It was educational, really.

  
It wasn’t like he wasn’t learning something. In fact, he was learning a lot just by being on this little outing that Wade had insisted was a good idea. Like, maybe the fact that Wade was an excessive eater.

The weather was relatively warm for a fall day in manhattan and Wade had insisted that getting a coney dog was something of a must for a Tuesday afternoon, not that Tony would ever understand what the fuck it being Tuesday had to do with it. Wade was sort of a mystery and, if Tony was being completely honest, it peaked the billionaires interest, just a tad bit.

  
“I want twice the amount of chilli dog sauce.” Wade demanded from the vendor as Tony let his eyes slide down the mercs back, observing the way his broad shoulders still stood out even under the baggy sweatshirt, and the way his ass was somewhat nicely defined in the appropriately fitted denim jeans. “I want it dripping off the buns.”

  
“He likes it messy.”

  
Tony was naturally flirtatious and it absolutely had nothing to do with Wade. In fact, as soon as Tony realized what had just come out his mouth, he winced.

Had he really just fucking said that? In public?

  
Good thing he was wearing his super secret spy hat and sweatshirt or the old man behind the trolley cart would know he was Tony Stark and god forbid the Avengers see a photo of him hanging out with Wade Wilson on vacation. The last thing he needed was a self righteous super soldier and the rest of his damn team calling to tell him what an unreasonable asshole he was being. He could definitely imagine them trying to convince him that letting the merc hangout with him and not giving Steve a chance to even talk was very... nonsensical.

  
“Yes, he definitely just said that.” Wade chuckled as he snatched the hot dogs out of the old man's hands, handing one to Tony before talking again. “I'd love to make a mess of you, Mr. Stark.”

  
“Don’t call me that.” Tony rolled his eyes as they walked to the nearest bench in Central Park, plopping down before he snatched up his hot dog.”What was the point in coming out here? We could’ve had perfectly fine hot dogs delivered to my penthouse.”

  
“Yeah, but as a good man, I prefer to take my dates outside the bedroom.” Wade winked. “I’m a gentleman after all.”

  
“This is not a date.” Tony deadpanned as he took a bite of his food. “And you’re anything but gentle.”

  
“I can be for you.” Wade wiggled What should’ve been his eyebrows, causing Tony’s traitorous chest to squeeze just a little bit. “I can be trusted to take extra care.”

  
Tony rolled his eyes at the mercs gesture, he would have to go get checked out by a doctor soon if this kept up. There had to be something wrong with him if he was reacting this way to Wade, right? Absolutely. Was that even really a question?

  
“Last time I trusted you to take care of me I got crushed by the ceiling.” The words stumbled out of his lips before he’d even actually thought them through.

  
“That’s... no, it’s true, he’s right.” Wade snapped at himself and Tony thinks he should probably tape his mouth shut next time because he’d meant to ask Wade about the incident in a much less... direct manner? “It being an accident doesn’t make him any less injured, Yellows right.”

  
Tony swallowed down another bite of his coney dog before deciding to dive head first into the conversation. He’d have to ask Wade about the mission eventually, so why not now?

  
“What happened?” Tony cocked his eyebrow. “One minute you’re on the comm directing us through a building and the next you’re MIA and I’m laying underneath a massive amount of debris. Where’d you go? Colossus said it was personal but I think I have at least the right to know the surface of the situation.”

  
“No, he does deserve to know.” Wade continued arguing with himself. “I don’t think...no, he wouldn’t be mad... would he? I don’t think it’s dangerous... no...” Wade went silent for a few moments before snapping his blue eyes toward him. “I had an important phone call come in.”

  
“A phone call?” Tony was suddenly shrouded in confusion, which quickly turned into irritation as he processed the mercs words. “Wait, your excuse is a phone call?” Tony let out an airy chuckle that was less from entertainment and more from exasperation. “You’re telling me you walked away from your post in the middle of our mission so you could talk on the phone?!”

  
“Uh... yes?” Wade seemed to rethink his reply as soon as he said it.

  
Tony hadn’t expected the answer to anger him so much. He had been prepared for a dumb answer, like maybe Wade wanted to crack a few skulls, but a phone call?! Something in Tony snapped and he felt like throwing up.

  
“Fuck.” Tony shot up from the bench, dropping his hot dog on the ground. “Fuck, can anyone be trusted anymore?! It takes one man, one phone call, one damn decision and people beat you, leave you, betray you, and berate you behind cell walls calling YOU the traitor! They break the law, and it’s your fault! Then you find you believe them, you see things from their point of view and you try to help and they run you to the ground!” Tony ran one hand through his hair as he leaned on a crutch. “You still help though! You fight with the world to help them get home. You get talked down upon, sit through hours of painful meetings, arguing on the behalf of... of criminals until finally you begin to make some sense and they come home and you live with them! You live with them and everything is suppose to be fine and everything is suppose to run smoothly and it would except it’s not, because you forgave everyone but the one person you are suppose to forgive for everything!”

  
“Star-“

  
“No!” Tony snapped as Wade stared up at him. “I’ve had enough! I trust and I-I give and then I get stepped on and I deal with it! I deal with it and I plunge through and I try to fix things and I can’t! I want to, but everything is so fucked up! I’m on half assed terms with my old team, can’t even talk to most of them and the ones I do talk to are awkward and it’s like the ghost of something that used to be and then I think...” Tony let out a self depreciating laugh. “I think maybe I can get away, help out someone who might understand and escape the hell I’ve planted myself right in the middle of while doing some good for the X-men and then just when I think I can start to trust someone... BAM! I’m knocked off my ass again.” Tony gritted his teeth in frustration. “Over a damn phone call!” Tony closed his eyes as he let his shaky breathing even out, attempting to calm himself. “Everything is just shit.”

  
Tony knew people were staring but he didn’t care. His head was lowered and the cap he adorned was covering his features so they wouldn’t recognize him anyway, not that he cared. He’s used to the media creating blasé articles about him and honestly, a melt down in the park was the least of his worries.

  
The silence carried on for a few more moments as Tony wrestled with his need to scream and cry and just collapse in on himself. He might not care if the media wrote bullshit about him but he wasn’t about to let himself be more pathetic than he already was.

  
“I have a daughter.” Wade finally spoke up, breaking the silence as the billionaire opened his eyes. “She’s the only thing I have... I’d drop everything if she needed me and I didn’t... I didn’t think you’d get hurt.”

  
Tony stared down at the ground as he listened to the mercs words. Absorbing the information and struggling to make sense out of it. Wade had a daughter? Since when? S.H.I.E.L.D. definitely didn’t know about it.

  
“I told her to only call me for emergencies when I was away on a job.” Wade continued as he tapped his fingers against his thigh.

  
Tony swallowed as he let the words sink in. Wade hadn’t just been answering the phone for nothing, it’d been for his daughter. His daughter that apparently no one else knew about. It wasn’t the first time someone kept family from him. Clint hadn’t told anyone but Natasha about his family until absolutely necessary. Wade was keeping his daughter safe, hidden away from his dangerous lifestyle.

Could Tony be mad? Could Tony really be angry at that? At the merc? Could he really hold that against Wade?

  
“Was it?” Tony finally spoke up, lifting his eyes to meet the mercs baby blues. “An emergency? I mean, is she okay?”

  
“She got an A on her science fair project.” Wade lifted his hand to rub the back of his neck as he let out a guilty chuckle. “She’s six, an emergency means a lot of things to a six year old I guess.... I explained to her that it wasn’t an emergency and by the time I got back to my post you were already...” Wade trailed as he licked his scarred lips. “I make a lot of blunders but I swear I did-“

  
“Science is always an emergency.” Tony cut him off as his frustration with the merc melted away, replaced by a sudden, inexplicable warmth. Could Tony call this admiration? Or was it affection? He didn’t know.

  
Tony took his seat back next to the merc as he watched Wade debate something with himself again, though this time in silence. After a few minutes of watching the mercs changing facial expressions, Tony decided to break the awkward silence once more.

  
“So, what was it?”

  
Wade snapped out of his thoughts as he looked back over at Tony in confusion.

  
“What was what?”

  
“The science project.” Tony elaborated, a small pitying smile on his face. “What’d she make? If it was some lame foam lava volcano I’m gonna be highly disappointed because if you’d brought her to me we could’ve made the lava chocolate.”

  
“She walked on eggs.” Wade let out a chuckle at the bewildered look on Tony’s face. “She saw it online and thought it was cool so... she made me buy five dozen eggs and she wrote about why the eggs didn’t break and took it all to school.”

  
“They gave a child an A to walk on eggs?” Tony rubbed his hand over his face. “Well, at least we know where our taxes are going.”

  
Wade let out a deep laugh at Tony’s words that made the billionaires stomach give a flip. He’d heard Wade laugh before but... never as care free and honest as the laugh he’d received just now.

  
“She picked something I could help her with.” Wade smiled fondly as he spoke about his daughter, and Tony couldn’t help but think how different it was to see this side of the merc. “I’m not really the best at elaborate science stuff. Sure, I can hack a system or two but... I’m not much of a creator... unless you count my daughter, she’s perfect.”

  
Tony’s chest gave a squeeze at the mercs softened exterior. He hadn’t expected to see such a caring expression cross the mercs face but it seemed much more natural than he’d ever expected it to be.

  
“Well, next time, bring her to my workshop and she can have a real mechanic help her make something amazing to take to school.” Tony smirked at the merc. “I’ll help her build a miniature AI or a candy machine to impress her little friends, and maybe she’ll win a national scholastic prize while she’s at it.”

  
“I’m sure she’d love that.” Wade chuckled as he shook his head. “Science is one of her favorite subjects.”

  
Tony nodded in recognition as Wade continued to praise his daughter. With each word the mercs smile grew and Tony knew that, despite being a mercenary, he had to be a somewhat good father if his stories were anything to go by.

  
Tony ignored the flipping of his stomach and the constricting feeling in his chest, opting to focus on the stories Wade was feeding him. He’d work on those nuisances later, for now he just wanted to live in the moment. For now... he didn’t mind being attracted to Wade Wilson.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I looked up science projects for children, bc I never did that kind of stuff, and I thought distribution of pressure by stepping on eggs was a fun science thing for a six year old. Smart but simple.
> 
>  
> 
> Updating on a phone as always!!!  
> (Ignore typos or point them out, you know the drill)
> 
> Thx for reading this chapter and I’m sorry if I sound brash when I answer your comments. I’m apparently bad at communicating hahaha.
> 
> Also, I am planning a sequel once this is finished, for Steve because... Although I was mad at him for CW... I actually don’t hate him. I’ve come to understand his actions and, although I don’t 100% agree, I do love Captain America. So if you want, stick around for a sequel when this is all up and posted!! :D
> 
> Also, does anyone else watch avengers Assemble or???
> 
>  
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter!! And I hope it establishes Tony’s feelings about the rest of team Cap. A lot of people have been questioning it and he is by no means 100% comfortable with them, though I also can’t see him holding their actions against them in an aggressive way. Idk, maybe you guys think differently? I tried explaining that in the comments but I just sounded like an argumentative jerk so I figured this chapter might help and I had some time to post it。
> 
> Thx again for reading my mediocre story!! :)))


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A visit from Pete...  
> A lab incident that should’ve gone viral...

When Tony answered the door, he had not been expecting a red masked vigilante.

Okay, he had maybe been expecting A red masked vigilante, but not THIS red masked vigilante.

“Hey, Pete.” Tony greeted as he wiped the surprise from his face and replaced it with a welcoming smile. “Your Spidey senses lead you to my humble abode?”

“Oh um, no, actually, Mr. Colonel Rhodes Sir told me where to go.” Peters masked eyes adjusted, narrowing as if the kid beneath were nervous, which Tony assumed he probably was. “Is... That’s okay right? I mean, he was adamant not to bother you unless it was like, mandatory? I guess this might not be what he considers to be mandatory but Miss. Potts said I was in charge when she left but you know, being in charge of the whole place is a lot to ask and I just... It was a total accident and I totally didn’t mean to do it, but if you’re gonna blame anyone it definitely wasn’t Mr. Hawkeyes fault-“

“Woah woah, kid take a breath.” Tony couldn’t help but let out an airy chuckle. “I thought I was a rambler but you take the cake. Now, come inside, take off the mask, and tell me what’s going on.”

“R-Right.”

Tony spun around, his crutches clicking against the ground as he led the nervous teen to the kitchen. He motioned for Peter to take a seat before walking around the island and reaching into the fridge, snatching up a can of root beer and sliding it across the granite counter top. Peter pulled his mask off and popped the tab on the soda, taking a large gulp.

“Okay, shoot.”

“Well, Mr. Stark, Miss. Potts told me I was in charge of looking after the tower while you were away. Which is completely fine, I’m good under pressure and the Avengers are actually grown ups so it’s not like I’m babysitting a bunch of toddlers.” Tony snorted, that’s exactly what Pepper was implying when she left the teen in charge. “So I thought I’d take a look in your lab, is that okay? I didn’t think you’d mind.”

“It’s fine, kid.”

“Right, okay.” Peter let out a relieved breath as he continued. “I didn’t know Mr. Hawkeye was a vent climber, actually, I thought he was retired in all honesty.”

“Didn’t we all?”

“So, he came back from.... wherever he disappears to for days at a time but I didn’t know that and when I was in the lab I heard something in the vent.” Peter started fiddling with the seems of his mask, rolling his fingers along the edge. “I thought it was totally weird that F.R.I.D.A.Y. Didn’t alert anyone to an intruder. Like, there’s no way Mr. Starks A.I. failed, right? Right. So I decided to take a look.” Tony cocked his eyebrow. “Well when I shot my web, I totally forgot it was set to taser webs and I shocked the whole ventilation system and at the time, Mr. Hawkeye was carrying his explosive arrows with him and they set off.”

“Barton exploded?” Tony’s eyes widened. “You blew up Hawkeye? His kids are gonna be pissed at the funeral.”

“No I didn- wait, Mr. Hawkeye has kids?”

“Yeah, three.” Tony nodded. “But that’s besides the point. How much damage did my lab take.”

“Oh yeah, right. Well, After Mr. Hawkeye heard the beeping of his arrows, I’m still not sure how he didn’t get electrocuted by my taser-“

“I created his suit to withstand high voltage, and he probably had his gloves on too.”

“Huh, you think of everything Mr. Stark.” Peter said in awe before shaking his head and getting back on topic. “Well, he came tumbling out of the vent, yelling about ticking and then next thing I knew I was pressed to the ground and a loud explosion blasted a hole straight through the ceiling.” Peter winced at the memory. “Mr. Falcon was not pleased when he fell through the floor.”

“So I need a new ceiling for my lab?” Tony cocked an eyebrow, it wasn’t the first time an explosion happened in his lab so why was the kid so freaked out.

“No- well yes, but that’s not all.” Peter looked up with a sheepish smile on his face. “Dum-E didn’t have access to a fire extinguisher, because ummm- it was under the rubble because half the wall got taken out too.” Peter continued as Tony added up the damages. “So, he found a bucket of water, or I thought it was water, and proceeded to spill it all over the floor. Which, you’d think, okay, no big deal.” Peter shrugged as Tony nodded, no big deal is right, Tony was used to Dum-Es blunders. “Well, Mr. Captain America came rushing down the stairs to check on the situation and it turned out it was, in fact, not water but that clean oil fluid you and I had been developing two months ago...” Peter chewed his bottom lip nervously. “The floor was slippery and Mr. Captain America went flying across the floor, sliding into your left side shelf, knocking over all your prototypes, including your first stage jet power skates... sending them flying through the room-“

“My god, what is this, a sitcom?” Tony let out an exasperated laugh as he cut Peter off. “Alright, I get it, you guys destroyed my entire lab, the floor above the lab and the room next door.”

Peter looked down at his drink guiltily, and Tony couldn’t help but smile at the teen.

Tony wasn’t mad. In fact, he was as far from angry as one could get. The whole situation sounded hilarious and Tony probably should’ve put a lock on his lab, and those damn vents, before he decided to vacation anyways.

“It’s alright, Kid.” Tony shrugged as he leaned against the counter, taking his weight off his crutches. “I’ll head back to the facility this week, I think my vacation time is about up anyways.”

“No, I didn’t mean to intrude on your vacation, Mr.Stark.” Peter practically whined, making Tony shake his head as he continued to assure the kid everything was fine.

“Don’t even act like I haven’t been dying to get back to my lab, I like my little lab here but it’s nothing like home.” Tony held his hand up to cut the teens retorts off. “Seriously, it’s no big deal.”

Tony wasn’t lying. He really did miss his lab, and his room, and the facility in general. Over the past two years, the compound had become home and being away for so long felt kind of... empty? Though, he still wasn’t looking forward to seeing Steve. He knew he had to talk to the soldier eventually but... he couldn’t help but notice that the soldier hadn’t once tried to contact him since he’d seen him after the press conference all those weeks ago. In fact, none of the Avengers, except Rhodey and Peter of course, had attempted to contact him. It was nice but at the same time, kind of hurtful. Did he really mean so little to them?

“Mr.Stark?” Peters voice snapped Tony out of his thoughts. “Are you okay?”

Tony quickly shook his head, sending the kid a small smile as he answered.

“Yeah, peachy keen. Sorry, I got a little side tracked thinking about responsibilities and blah blah blah.” Tony tapped his fingers against the counter top. “Nothing to worry about here Spider-boy.”

“Right.” Peter nodded in recognition, though it was obvious he didn’t agree. “So... I haven’t seen Deadpool around lately.”

Tony’s eyes immediately snapped to Peters as he cocked an eyebrow. The kid obviously knew what was up, probably Rhodeys big mouth, that or the fact that Deadpool really hadn’t been showing up in the last three weeks had been oddly suspicious to the kid. Wade had been visiting almost everyday, keeping the billionaire company when Rhodey wasn’t around. Tony actually didn’t mind the foul mouthed, inappropriate merc hanging around, and with the merc stuck here, Tony knew he wasn’t out there killing people, so in all... Tony was doing the world a bit of good by keeping Wade around all day.

“No?” Tony questioned innocently. “Maybe he left town.”

“I thought- well I mean you went on a mission and I thought... Mr. Rhodes said that- I mean...” Peter trailed before going silent, as if he just expected Tony to put him out of his misery, and that’s exactly what Tony did.

“Yeah, I know about your little plan.” Tony narrowed his eyes playfully at his protege as the kids cheeks turned pink. “I’d chastise you if it didn’t kinda work.”

“It did?!” Peters eyes widened in shock before quickly turning to that of excitement. “You’ve been hanging out?! I thought you’d be mad but Deadpool said he didn’t mind getting you out of town for awhile and I thought it was a good opportunity. Not that you need my help, you’re Iron Man, but I just thought you’d want a bit of time out of the tower because... well, you know.” Tony rolled his eyes at the teens rambling. “Though, I didn’t think you’d become such good friends, not that it’s a bad thing. In fact, I don’t think Deadpool is as bad as the world thinks he is. I mean, he’s done bad things but for the last year he’s really cut back and had actually helped me a few times when I needed backup on robberies. He didn’t even kill anyone, just helped me tie them up and stuff.”

“Wait, when exactly did all this happen?” Tony cut Peter off once more. “How long has he been here without you telling me?”

“Uhh...since October?” Peter avoided Tony’s eyes guiltily. “He wasn’t causing any trouble so I didn’t think it was a problem, really. I figured if he caused any trouble I’d tell you but he stayed clean, no killings, no real danger to the city.” Peter chewed on his bottom lip. “He was just helping me, no big deal. I mean, I understand if you’re mad though, I kind of lied. I’m sorry, Mr.Stark. He said he had a good reason to be here when I caught him and he promised he wouldn’t cause any trouble. Said he’d found something really important here he had to protect and I just... it sounded like he was telling the truth so I told him I wouldn’t tell you unless he caused real damage.”

Tony took a minute to let Peters words sink in. Wade had been in New York for nine months prior to their little skirmish in the ally with Rogers? Tony was really slacking if he hadn’t picked up on the mercs presence. The billionaire should be mad but, he couldn’t be. Wade hadn’t caused any trouble, Peter had made sure of it, and he already knew the important thing Wade had found. It had to be his daughter, right? What other thing would Deadpool have that’d be important enough to put the mercs livelihood on hold?

“Sorry for lying.” Peter spoke through the silence as his guilty eyes finally met Tony’s.

“Stop apologizing, kid.” Tony rubbed his temple. “You’re killing me with the puppy dog eyes, seriously, knock it off. The only thing I’m even slightly stricken by is the fact that I have a seventeen year old worried about me.”

“O-of course I’m worried.” Peters eyes widened as the guilt flitted from his features, replaced by understanding, concern and surprise that Tony would think anything less of him. “You’re practically family, Mr.Stark, and even Miss. Potts says everything is a bit much on you sometimes. In fact, she told me that my being around helps a little and if I can help, I want to help. That’s why when I heard the rest were returning, I saw the way your whole demeanor stiffened and I decided that getting help from Deadpool might not be the best solution but it was the only one I could think of.” The billionaires eyes widened a bit. Peter had really been paying that close of attention to his demeanor? And here Tony though he’d done a good deal of hiding it. “Deadpool actually said he’d be glad to help. He said it’d be interesting and having you around might be fun. At first I was a little unsettled because I thought, what was he getting out of it? But everytime I offered payment he said no and then eventually he said I could just give him pictures, which seemed weird at first until he told me that he was using them to create a montage for someone close to him because they’re a huge fan of you.”

“What?”

Tony was confused. He’d of course found out about the pictures but the explanation Peter had given him about them didn’t seem to match up with his analysis. Wade was making a montage? Of him? For who? Tony was a little unsettled by the idea that someone wanted something so personal but also a little flattered, even if it was only because he was Iron Man.

“Well, at first I sent him pictures of strictly Iron Man but... it seemed whoever he was making it for wasn’t really for that. Which is kind of weird, not that you’re not totally awesome, Mr. Stark, but personal pictures of Tony Stark?” Peters face crinkled in suspicion. “I mean, whoever they are, they must really like your inventions or something because Wade was adamant they weren’t for him, though he said he couldn’t deny loving the pictures himself.” Peter glanced Tony’s way to find the Engineer with his brow crinkled, mistaking it for disappointment. “I’m sorry, Mr. Stark, I should’ve never sent pictures of you to anyone without permission. I’m really sorry, I wasn’t really thinking much about it but that’s not an excuse because it was wrong and an invasion of privacy, especially since it was mainly personal moments between us. God I feel like such a jerk-“

“Jesus kid, relax.” Tony snapped back to reality, pushing his confusion and concern away for a moment. “I’m not mad about the pictures. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a bit off putting that you’d do that but I’m used to it. I’m Tony Stark, pictures of me get published everyday with more ill intent than your innocent candid moments of me. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a bit betrayed at first,” Tony saw a flash of panic in the teens eyes before he continued. “but Wade already explained why you did it and it’s sort of my fault for making you worry. Just, don’t do it again maybe? Feeling a bit stalked isn’t a new feeling but having my own technology used to capture moments of me on the daily? That’s kinda awkward and uncomfortable. Yeah?”

“S-Sorry, Mr.Stark!” Peter quickly apologized, though Tony could see relief flood through him, relaxing the kids rigid body language. “It’ll never happen again, promise.”

“Good, because we wouldn’t want your Thor impressions getting out, would we?” Tony smirked as Peters face paled.

“Y-You still have those?”

“Of course, you really think I’d dispose of a gem like that?” Tony chuckled. “I’ve even got it saved on my backup server.”

Tony couldn’t help but laugh at the panicked look that crossed over the kids feature. His brown eyes widened as embarrassment and fear flitted across his pupils in a wave of teenage angst.

“Alright.” Tony clapped his hands together as he opened one of the side drawers in his kitchen. “What’s say we play some cards?”

Peter nodded his head in agreement as Tony tossed him the pack of cards, pulling a stool over to his side of the island counter and taking a seat as Peter dealt their hands.

Nobody else bothered to visit that day, not that Tony minded of course. Peter was enough company and the kid insisted on staying until his aunt gave him a call at 9 p.m. for him to come walk her home from work.

Tony was absolutely content with his surprise visitation, though that didn’t stop his eyes from sliding over to the door throughout the night, waiting for a familiar knock or shout that never came. Somehow, the lack of it left Tony feeling a bit disappointed, though he’d take that knowledge to his grave.

Tony Stark would NEVER admit that he missed the oddly warm company of a certain mouthy merc.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ignore typos or point them out.
> 
> I thought I had writers block but really I just had ‘too lazy to write’ block but then I got to work and spit out three chapters so... here we go.  
> (Posting off my phone as always... I really hope you guys like the three chapter edition but, if not, sorry.)


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A return home...  
> Tony pains at Steve’s ignorance...

Tony had finally decided to return to the compound. It’d been three days since Peter had shown up and Tony knew that he couldn’t sit around for much longer. Nobody had been to visit him since his protege dropped by and it made him just as antsy as he was disappointed. Tony let out one last huff and he slid his jacket over his shoulders with much effort, balancing on one crutch. He felt like some sort of circus act. Getting dressed was a major struggle, and as much as he loved sweat pants, he wished he could get back into his comfy jeans that made his butt look phenomenal. He missed the sight of his rocking bod in expensive jeans, call him a narcissist.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., tell Happy I’m ready and to come grab my suit case.”

“Right away, Boss.” The A.I. Chirped.

Tony had packed some of his favorite tools into his suit case, which Rhodey would scold him for but... Tony would probably get an earful from Rhodey when he realized the billionaire had returned to the tower before the six week mark anyways.

“Hey, Boss.” Happys voice sounded from behind him as the larger man entered the room, a tentative smile on his face. “Feeling better than the last time I saw you?”

“Much.” Tony turned as he motioned in the direction of his suit case. “Be careful with that, my babes are in it.”

Obviously knowing what Tony meant, used to the billionaires antics, Happy gave a firm nod as he lifted the suit case from the ground, leading the billionaire out of his pent house and into the elevator. It didn’t take long before Happy was driving him home, a thick feeling finding its way to Tony’s chest as the compound came into view.

The engineer hadn’t informed anyone when he would be returning. He had only told Peter it would be sometime this week, which the teen quickly vouched he wouldn’t tell the other Avengers because it was Tony’s business to tell.

“welp, here we go.” Tony sighed as Happy popped the door open, letting the mechanic slide out of the back seat before laying his crutches against the side of the car for Tony to latch onto. “Thanks, just take my case to my suite, I’m gonna go take a look at my destroyed lab.”

Happy gave another curt nod as Tony took off into the compound, straight for the elevator and to the underground lab.

The damage wasn’t as bad as he’d expected. Sure the wall had a gaping hole and the ceiling was caved in, he could see Falcons bed from the far left side of the hole, but his mainframe was still intact, thankfully. Though, a lot of his equipment was shattered across the floor in an array of destruction.

“Tony.” A familiar voice spoke up from behind the billionaire and he mentally cursed his luck.

Of course Steve would be the first to find him, and of course it’d be before Tony could even settle into the compound for more than twenty minutes. Tony had pepped himself up for this event but... he didn’t expect it to come so soon. Steve has impeccable timing and it made Tony wanna set himself on fire. Maybe he could start a spark by igniting the clean oil that he and Peter were developing. The thought wasn’t reassuring at all because he already knew how that would work.

“Cap.” Tony did his best to slide a neutral expression over his raging emotions as he turned toward the nuisance that stood against the glass door of his lab. “And what do I have the honor of doing for you.”

“Tony, don’t.” Steve’s brows furrowed as a frown found its way to his lips. “Don’t put on that indifferent expression in front of me, it doesn’t work. I just wanna talk.”

“Talk? Are we not talking?” Tony cocked his brow as he turned toward his glass screens, opening up his data base to distract himself with pointless numbers. “Talk away, soldier. I’ve got nothing useful to say but apparently you’re not gonna let it go so we might as well get it over with, right? I mean, not like I have much of a choice considering you’re just gonna follow me around like a kicked puppy. Kind of funny really, I’m the one injured and you’re the one that looks like they’re in pain, which is disconcerting actually because what do you have to be in pain about? You’re the one who left me, remember?”

“I didn’t...” Steve trailed off, his voice fading as if he realized pretty quickly the damage his words would do, instead opting to voice something else. “I know I hurt you and I know it’s going to take a lot to fix things-“

“Fix things?” Tony clenched his teeth in annoyance. Why did Steve always think everything was salvageable? “Listen, Cap,” Tony popped, adding a bit of vehemence to his words “I know you think things can just go back to normal, like you can just snap your fingers and apologize and everything will be back to skipping stones in a lake under the sunset while we scarf down warm ziti and drink wine by the lake side... but in real life, things don’t work that way.” Tony turned to face the stoic blue eyes that were now only about two feet away. “You don’t always get to fix things, believe me, I know, I’m a mechanic, remember? It’s literally what I do. Fix and create, my main occupation.”

“We haven’t even tried.” Steve piped up, the frown on his face fading as the younger Steve, the inexperienced idiot that Tony had fallen in love with years ago rose to the surface. “Tony, please.”

Tony felt his throat tighten as he swallowed. He wet his dry lips as he moved his eyes away from the pretty blues, clicking his way over to the only intact bench left in the wake of destruction. He leaned the crutches off to the side as he clattered down onto the bench without so much as a hint of grace before rubbing his temples.

“Why?” Tony damn neared croaked as he opened his eyes, looking back toward the blonde. “Why are you so persistent? Why can’t you just let us go?”

“Tony, you know why.” Steve’s voice tightened and he could see the unfair pain splashed across the pale features.

“If that’s true then why’d you do it?” Tony felt his chest constrict as if the metal safe that had put him in the hospital was still pressing over his bruised ribs. “He’s you friend, I get it, really I do. I tried to kill your best man, but you didn’t even... you didn’t even turn around, Steve.” Tony uttered his name for the first time, coming off his lips like a foreign language. “If you loved me, you would’ve turned around.”

“How could I?” Steve’s voice was wet as he spoke. “I couldn’t get you to see things my way. You were being so stubborn-“

“I... What?” Tony let the words sink in. What kind of apology? Wait, it wasn’t an apology was it? Steve was still stuck in the same state of mind he’d been when they’d fought that day. “I’m stubborn?!” Tony snapped. “Grow up, Rogers.” The sudden name change made Steve flinch, Tony could tell it stung. Good, he wanted it to. “I confess, I know I was wrong. I know I should’ve met you at the airport alone because you wouldn’t have taken it as a fight, hell, you might’ve listened to me. And maybe I shouldn't have raged out like the Hulk and attacked your ‘best friend’.” Tony growled as he narrowed his eyes at the super soldier moron. “But you’re at fault too, dammit! You wouldn’t listen worth a shit! I tried to compromise, I tried to HELP the best way I could while following the agreement that I signed! Yeah, okay, maybe I signed a bit too soon but I admitted what I did was wrong, I probably should’ve done a little tweaking of the accords before signing! But that didn’t matter because I still came after you! I came after you because I knew I owed it to you, to the man I loved, to stand by his side and help him!” Tony clenched his teeth, how could Steve be so self righteous that he didn’t see what he did wrong? Or did he and he was just to cowardly to admit it?

Tony took a deep breath trying to calm himself down. The last thing he needed was Steve’s buddies to come down from wherever the hell they were and gang up on him.

“Do you know what a slap in the face it was?” Tony spoke in the most level voice he could manage. “To find out that my boyfriend knew his best friend killed my parents? My mom? And didn’t tell me?” Tony closed his eyes as he continued. “Then, he proceeded to expect me not to freak out when my parents murder tape...” Tony opened his eyes back up as he blinked away tears, he would not cry in front of Steve, not today. “You Don’t get to put all the blame on me, it takes two to tango.”

“I was protecting my friend.” Steve’s solid voice rang through the air and when Tony looked back his way, he found a dark look over Steve’s features. “I don’t regret it. Maybe I should’ve told you, yeah, probably. But would it have changed anything? Tony, you’re bull headed. You get something in your head and it’s hard to make you let it go. You wouldn’t have helped me.”

“How can you- how do you know that?!” Tony snapped once more, anger rolling through him like an explosion. “You didn’t even give me the chance to decide! You decided for me! How can you possibly know how I would’ve reacted?!”

“Because I know you, Tony!” Steve bellowed, anger rolling of him in waves, the air thick with tension.

“Apparently not well enough.” Tony spat, his tone low but full of venom. “If you knew me, you’d know I loved you more than anything and, yeah maybe I’d have had to take a breather, but I’d have tried to understand you. You’d know I tried to be the best man I could be for the team, for Pepper... for you.” Tony watched Steve’s features, the dark anger ever present and he knew that no matter what he said, Steve wasn’t going to listen, because Steve was right. Steve was always right. “But you’re right, I’m nothing but a selfish, bull headed asshole. Thats why Pepper left me, why you left me, right?”

“Why do you always have to be this way?” Steve spoke firmly. “Why does everything have to be an argument with you?” Steve clenched and unclenched his jaw before speaking again. “I just-“

“Please.” Tony croaked, his voice shaking, and he could tell by the stiffened movement out of the corner of his eye that Steve was caught off guard by his shaky words. “I can’t. Just leave.”

Steve opened his mouth to say something but quickly clamped it shut, his teeth grinding as he let out a huff of air and turned away. Tony heard the door to his lab slide shut before he let out a shaky breath.

“Dammit.” Tony muttered as he felt his strength crumble, tears sliding down his cheeks. “Shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ignore or point out typos...


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clint is kind of hippocritical...  
> Nat is a god send...  
> Wade is a semi best friend...

"Boss, you have a visitor.”

Tony was roused from his sleep at the voice of his A.I. He pried his eyes open, apparently having had fallen asleep after his little breakdown.

“Time?”

“Five thirty.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. Replied, giving Tony a moment to process her words before speaking once more. “It appears Mr. Barton and Mr. Wilson are not finding your guest to be very welcome.”

“Huh? Guest?” Tony rubbed at his face as he sat up on the metal bench, his neck sore from the awkward sleeping position. “What’re you on about?”

“SirFunkalot is at the Compound door.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. Answered as he rubbed at his tense muscles. “They appear very unsettled that SirFunkalot is refusing to leave the premises.”

“Wade?” Tony licked his dry lips, wetting them as he let the information sink in. “Wait, Wades here?”

“Yes.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. Answered, and Tony could swear she was getting sassy on him. “He wishes to see you, though he has yet to be allowed entrance.”

Tony felt a weird sort of happiness fill his chest at her words.

“Oh.” Tony said before grabbing his crutches and standing up. “I’m on my way up now, make sure they don’t do anything stupid before I get there. Kay?”

“Of course.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. Replied as Tony stepped into the elevator, making his way to the front door.

It didn’t take long for Tony to hear the ruckus from the front entrance. Wade seemed to be throwing out jokes as Clint barked at him to shut up and get off their property, whereas sam was trying to calm the situation. Leave it to the professional to try and calm down the group.

“What is going on here, children.” Tony snipped playfully as he walked up behind the two grown men standing in front of the entrance, blocking off Wade. “What goes here?”

“This lunatic thinks he’s invited to come and hangout at the compound.” Clint turned toward Tony, pushing his surprise at seeing the billionaire off to the side as he answered. “He thinks we’re gonna believe the notion that you’re ‘buddies’.”

“Buddies?” Tony scoffed, as he looked over at Wade to find him dressed in his Deadpool costume, which made Tony a bit more disappointed than he would’ve liked. “More like best pals, amigos, migliori amici.” Tony joked at Clint’s expense, call him a bit petty.

“What?” Clint’s demeanor changed as he stared at Tony, his jaw just about hitting the floor as Wade let out a triumphant cheer.

“Told you, I would never lie about our heartfelt relationship!” Wade wiggled past the two flabbergasted men, giddily making his way to the engineering genius. “Iron babe, I missed you!”

Tony was pulled into a tight hug, which at first Tony had tensed against only to quickly relax into it. He was used to Wades touchy feely actions after three weeks of dealing with him. This seemed to only make the two men still at the entrance even more aghast.

“Wait, are you serious?” Clint finally snapped out of it, questioning Tony. “This isn’t some kind of joke? You’re hanging out with a hired mercenary?”

“Clint-“ Sam began, only to be cut off.

“No! I mean, what the fuck Tony!?” Clint snapped as his eyes filled with anger. “Here we are, walking on glass because we want to get along with you and be teammates and make ‘pals’ again and you’re choosing to spend time with a murderous menace?! What the actual fuck?!”

“Clint I do-“

“I didn’t ask you to walk on glass.” Tony cut Sam off this time, though he appreciated his teammates attempt to salvage the situation, he had seen this coming. In fact, Tony was well prepared for this situation. He’d known his team wouldn’t take the news that he was palling around with Wade lightly. “In fact, I never once said we had to be pals. We can work as a team without personal relations getting in the way. You were a master assassin, you should know that.” Clint clamped his mouth shut at Tony’s words, he’d struck a cord. “And where do you get off saying anything about a murderer? How many people have you killed, Clint?”

“I didn’t kill for the highest bidder, Tony.” Clint bit back as he narrowed his eyes at the billionaire. “I did it for S.H.I.E.L.D., the good guys.”

“Really, you think they’re good guys?” Tony cocked an eyebrow, still calm as could be. “Sure Fury was swell and all but, it was oversaw by government officials. Men with their own agendas and- oh that’s right, the same men that helped create the accords that stuck you in solitary time out. So who’s working for the good guys here?” Tony smirked as Clint ground his teeth. “Last I checked, when I worked for the government and helped bring you guys in, I was total scum.”

Just as Clint opened his mouth to retort, probably in a hopeless way because Tony obviously won that argument and by the look on Sams face, he knew it, a voice cut through the air, bringing the archers words to a halt.

“Boys, boys, you’re both pretty.” Natasha walked toward the group as she assessed the situation. “Let’s not fight over our nails and hair styles, okay?”

“Nat.” Clint looked over to the Widow as she stepped up in between the four men. “Do you see this? Are you seeing this?”

“What? The red clad mouthy merc trying to slide his hand on Tony’s ass?” Nat gave a small smirk as Tony came to the realization, batting the mercs hand away. “Yeah, I see it. Why, what’s the problem?”

“Are you kidding?” Clint scoffed, obviously getting upset with the female assassin. “He’s a criminal.”

“And?” Natasha gave Clint an unimpressed look. “so were we, two months ago, remember? International in fact.”

“That’s no-“

“Not the same?” Nat cut him off. “Yeah, maybe it’s not, but who are we to judge? He’s not actually high on the priority list. If he were, he’d be getting hunted down right now by Ross, no?” Clint scuffed his shoes as he looked away from Natashas deadly gaze. “Besides, wasn’t I a murderous criminal when you first met me?”

“Nat-“

“And I got a chance to redeem myself, right?” Natasha didn’t let the archer even speak a word as she continued. “I’ve done my research, he’s been a good boy for the past six months. In fact, he’s been doing recon with our very own Spider-man.”

Tony wasn’t even surprised Natasha knew that. He’d never understand how the assassin was able to find these things out but he still wasn’t surprised.

“So, hows about we lay off and let Tony have his own life.” Natasha finished up as she slipped Tony a small smile, he gave a grateful nod in return. “I mean, he didn’t let us get away with crimes so I’m pretty sure he’s not gonna let Deadpool get away with them either. Now, cmon, Let’s go spar and leave these two grown men to their toys, okay?”

Clint finally gave a reluctant nod as he stocked off, following closely after the assassin. Tony wasn’t close with Natasha, but did he ever love her a little bit in that moment. She had betrayed him, but he understood her actions back then. Steve was their friend and she hadn’t wanted to put him behind bars yet, she hadn’t fought against Tony either, it was the only way she could help both of them without physically harming either of them, and Tony knew that. He wasn’t entirely forgiving of her actions but he did appreciate her. She was one of his favorite teammates as of now, other than Rhodey and the kid, of course.

“Tony.” Sam spoke up; Tony had almost forgot he was there. “I won’t tell you not to be friends with him,” Sam pointed to the merc. “But you know how Steve will react.”

“Yeah, I got it.” Tony nodded at Sams warning. “Thanks.”

“Just, be careful?” Sam gave him an awkward half smile.

“Don’t worry that pretty little head of yours, tweety bird, I’ll take good care of our little Tony baby.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.” Sam sighed as he nodded once more to Tony, walking off after the two former spies.

“That was awkward, I’d say your parents don’t like me honey bunches.” Wade sighed dramatically. “It’s so hard to impress parents these days.”

“I’m sure they’ll come around, tootsie-wootsie.” Wade snorted at the nickname. “Just keep being you and they’ll love you about as much as I love myself.”

“Oh, do you really think so, my little honey suckle vine?” Wade lifted his gloved hand to his forehead. “I’d hate to be hated.”

“Positive, snickerdoodle.” Tony chuckled as he rolled his eyes at Wades fanning gesture. “Let’s head up to my suite, I’m parched and you’re probably hungry.”

“Gasp, how’d you know!? Are you a mind reader too!?” Wades hands flew to his cheeks as the whites of his mask widened.

“You’re always hungry.” Tony cocked an eyebrow. “And before you comment, no you cannot have a bite of my ass.”

“Awwweee, but whyyy.” Wade whined as the two headed for the elevator. “If I could get my fill of Iron Buns, I’d never be hungry again.”

Tony rolled his eyes as the elevator doors closed, a small smirk playing on his lips. Only three days and he’d already missed the mouthy mercs antics.

Tony glanced over at Wade who was now starting a conversation with F.R.I.D.A.Y., asking how the A.I. was doing and what she recommended eating, as if she could taste things. She, of course, answered using recommendations and reviews from online but the very idea that Wade treated his A.I. as if she were actually living, made Tonys smile widen.

Wade Wilson was going to be the death of Tony Stark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ignore or point out typos...
> 
> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> We are taking our first step toward The inevitable Steve and Wade confrontation!! *gasp* Whatever will we do?!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wade makes fantastic food...  
> Tony is scared...  
> Expectations are hard and love is harder...

“I do have personal chefs, you know that, right?” Tony cocked his eyebrow in Wades direction as the merc placed the homemade chimichangas into the electric fryer on Tony’s marble countertop. “I also could’ve just ordered us some pretty good chimichangas.”

“Oh, but they wouldn’t have been MY chimichangas.” Wade chimed as he pulled the chimichangas out of the grease to place more in. “Which, are the best by the way.”

“Mhm, So you claim but we’ll just have to see about that.” Tony couldn’t deny the smell was enticing. “If they’re as good as the chilaquiles you made last week, I might consider taking your word for it.”

Tony had turned down every single proposal toward cooking that Wade had presented to him for the first two weeks the merc had visited him in his pent house. It wasn’t until last week that Tony finally gave in, allowing the merc to bring ingredients from the store. In the end Tony had chalked Wades phenomenal cooking up to luck and nothing else. The billionaire could not accept that the merc with a mouth was that talented, at least, not from only eating one meal.

“Oh my- What did you do to these?” Tony practically moaned as he swallowed a bite of his first chimichanga.

“Told you I make the best chimichangas.” Wade had lifted his mask up over his nose as he stuffed his face.

“Why are you so good at cooking?” Tony took another large bite. “And can you be my personal chef because I don’t think I can live knowing these exist and I can’t eat them whenever I feel like it.”

“Ellie’s really picky.” Wade smirked at the billionaire between bites of his food. “She wouldn’t eat my trash cooking so I had to up my game when she started staying with me. You could come stay with me too, Iron Daddy. I’ll cook for you everyday.”

Tony finished off his last chimichanga as he leaned back in his stool, patting his now full stomach. It took him a few moments to realize Wade had given him his daughters name, or at least her nickname.

“Her names Ellie?” Tony eyed the merc as he stuffed the last bit of his final chimichanga into his mouth.

“Eleanor, actually.” Wade pushed his plate away as he laid his head on his palm against the marble counter, now staring Tony’s way. His mask was still pushed above his mouth and Tony couldn’t help but stare at the mercs scarred lips. “She looks more like her mother than me, thank god.”

Tony studied each indent of scar tissue in the lower half of Wades face, obviously not realizing the merc had stopped talking and was eyeing him in curiosity. Tony wanted to reach out and feel the mercs skin, run his fingers over it with just enough pressure to get an idea of how painful Wades skin had to feel. Tony was snapped out of his thoughts at a sudden interruption from his A.I., drawing his attention away from the scarred flesh of the mercenary.

“Boss, Steve Rogers is requesting to speak with you.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. Said with obvious displeasure in her artificial voice.

“Steve? What’s he want?”

“I’m unclear with the circumstances, he only demands to speak with you.” Tony knew that if the A.I. had a face he’d  be seeing her roll her eyes right about now. “He is being quite impatient.”

“Yeah?” Tony licked his lips as he thought about what to do.

He obviously couldn’t ignore Steve forever, but he definitely wasn’t ready to talk to the soldier right now. Not so soon after their spat earlier. God only knows what kind of bullshit Steve was going to spit out at him this time, and Tony couldn’t help but get the feeling that it was going to be something about his friendship with Wade. He really didn’t need another earful about how irresponsible and stupid it was for him to be spending time with Deadpool, especially from him. Just as Tony went to deny Steve’s request to talk, Wade opened his mouth.

“Tell him Iron Daddy is busy.” Wade spoke up, answering F.R.I.D.A.Y. for him, obviously catching onto Tony’s discomfort. “Be very persistent too, just like you were when I kept trying to get into his pent house at the Beekman.”

“She obviously wasn’t persistent enough because you got in.” Tony cocked his eyebrow at Wades orders.

“You don’t know how annoying I can be.” Wade smirked at the billionaire.

“Oh, yes I do.” Tony snorted.

“Boss?” F.R.I.D.A.Y. spoke once more. “Are those your orders as well?”

“Yeah, sure, gumdrop.” Tony shrugged. “Just don’t give in and let him in like you did this pain in my ass.”

“You love me.” Wade chuckled, the sound sending a weirdtingle down Tony’s spine that the billionaire quickly disregarded.

“Like a gazelle loves a cheetah.” Tony rolled his eyes.

“Of course, Boss.” The A.I. finally checked out of the conversation, off to deal with an annoying super soldier who believed that bothering Tony was the only thing to do, apparently.

“Well, I would eat you up, little gazelle.” Wades voice dropped into the deep, flirty tone that Tony was used to.

“Yeah? Too bad you just ate.” Tony countered as he stood up, pulling his crutches under his arms. “Let’s go watch The Blue Planet. Maybe they’ll talk about your family, the blobfish.”

“You wound me.” Wade threw his hand over his heart as he followed Tony to the large sectional. “There’s no way I could compete with them in the looks department.”

Tony laughed as he plopped down on the couch as F.R.I.D.A.Y. turned on the last episode the two men had watched back at his pent house on the other side of Manhattan. He and Wade hadn’t been able to agree on anything to watch and had ended up asking the A.I. to turn on something ‘enlightening’, which lead to her turning on The Blue Planet. Tony had scoffed at her choice at first, complaining about how boring it was going to be, only to get quickly sucked in by the British narrative. Wade seemed to be just as taken by the animal documentary because he’d heard no complaints from the merc as they spent hours watching episode after episode until Tony fell asleep on the seventh one, just as the voice on the screen began talking about humpback whales, which was, apparently, within the first five minutes.

 ***

After watching for about twenty minutes, Tony found himself more distracted by the mercenary than he was by the episode. Wade had shedded the rest of his mask, opting to watch the show without the bright red fabric clinging to his sore skin. He obviously hadn’t noticed Tony’s staring, or if he did he wasn’t letting it be known because his eyes were glued to the television as Tony’s were glued to his face.

Tony couldn’t wrap his head around how he had even gotten in this situation. Here he was, broken legged, sitting on the couch in his suite in the Avengers compound watching Blue Planet with the infamous Mercenary Deadpool who, If you’d asked Tony a year ago, or hell even a month ago, the billionaire couldn’t stand being within a five mile radius of. How exactly had Tony even gotten to this point? Maybe Rhodey was right, maybe he was losing his marbles. Why else would Tony want to lean across the couch right now and run his hands down Wade Wilsons face?

Blue eyes slid his way, staring into his pools of brown. The two sat there, staring at each other for what seemed like hours before Tony felt a hand clasp around the back of his neck, pulling him forward. Tony didn’t even have time to react before he found his lips gently covered by Wades scarred mouth.

Tony stiffened and his eyes widened as he panicked. The last person Tony had kissed had been Steve Rogers. The genius was on a bit of a dry spell. Well, really it was more like a drought, having been two years since he’d let anyone touch him in any intimate way. He’d freaked out on almost every blind date that Pepper had tried to set him up on. In fact, he’d just about had a mental breakdown when the last one had tried to hold his hand. And here he was freaking out again, Wades lips on his, yet, despite his panic, Tony couldn’t help but love the feeling of the rough, scarred lips on his own softer ones.

Tony didn’t know if he liked Wade, not in a romantic way, but he knew he liked the feeling of Wades lips, so he let himself sink into the touch. He tried to force himself to relax into Wades chest as he closed his eyes, returning the soft press of lips.

The genius knew it probably didn’t mean much to Wade, that the kiss was probably just that, a kiss, and if you’d asked him a few years ago, when he’d been pursuing his playboy ways, he’d have said the same thing. Now though, this kiss was Tony’s first step to recovery. His first step to finally getting over Steve and walking away from a painful memory. Though, he wouldn’t tell Wade that. He wouldn’t tell anyone that, because he knew that the merc was only acting on lust and Tony shouldn’t get attached, wouldn’t get attached. Tony would ignore the pounding of his heart in favor of just being close to someone. Wade Wilson flirts with everyone. There is nothing special about the way he treats Tony.

At least, that’s what Tony would tell himself because he’s not ready for another heartache. Tony was NOT going to get attached to the merc, besides... Wade has a kid and Tony can’t... it was hard enough living up to Peters expectations. Tony was not a good influence, and Ellie’s mom would probably not appreciate having an irresponsible, selfish, PTSD ridden, former alcoholic hanging around her kid. No, Tony would just let this be what it is, a release for Wade.

When Tony snapped out of his thoughts he found himself being held against the mercs body, his lips no longer pressed into a kiss. No, instead Tony was being firmly held as his body shook. When had he even started crying? Tony wasn’t sure and that made him sick. Here he was crying over a mere kiss, pathetic.

“-lright, I got you.” Wades calm voice filtered into Tony’s ears as red clad fingers wiped the tears from Tony’s cheeks. “It’s okay, it’s just me.”

Tony was having a panic attack. Of course he was, why else would he be acting so pathetically. Disgust filled the genius’ chest as he felt his body begin to rock back and forth in Wades arms. Tony was a disgrace. He couldn’t even handle a little kiss, no strings attached. Here he was spasming and crying into the chest of the mouthy merc.

Tony tried to pull away despite his inability to fully control his own muscles, but he only felt the arms around him tighten as Wade refused to let him go. Next thing he knew he was laying down on the couch, his body lined up with Wades, his head resting on the mercs chest as he struggled to regain his breathing. With one arm wrapped around Tony’s midsection, Wades other hand rubbed his back in soft, slow circles, eventually soothing Tony’s struggling mind into an easy slumber.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ignore typos or point them out, pls.
> 
> Time to step into angst territory...  
> it’s gonna get heart wrenching from here on out and I’ll apologize ahead of time... here it goes: I’m not sorry. 😂😂😂  
> I live for the angst, no regrets.  
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter!!
> 
> (I do updates on my phone most of the time so, I’m sorry if there are really really bad typos or autocorrects.)


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony is a lost soul...  
> Love is hard sometimes...

Tony snuggled further into the warmth beneath him, breathing in the oddly familiar, tangy scent. The smell was relaxing in way that Tonys brain actually stayed offline for longer than usual, but, of course, itstill wasn’t very long before his brain was hardwired and awake.

The sudden movement beneath him had his eyes shooting open. A small shuffle made Tony’s head tilt a little further to the right, and Tony could hear the strong heart beat beneath his ear and feel the rising and falling of the firm chest below his head. His brown eyes scanned the red and black material before sliding upward to fall upon the, somehow comforting, rough skin of Wade Wilson.

When had Tony fallen asleep?

Tony furrowed his brow in confusion before he felt his throat tighten. The memories from before his nap rushed through his head. He swallowed back the panic, the last thing he needed was another break down.

Tony kept his eyes focused on Wades face, falling over his hairless eyelids and chapped lips. He could feel the soft press from before. The feeling of chapped lips beneath his own, scraping against his softer lips in an enjoyable way. He could feel the soothing circles on his back, the large arms encasing him, promising him refuge as he was rocked back and forth against a broad chest. The sounds of a deep, almost husky voice speaking soft, encouraging words to lull him to sleep.

Tony lifted his hand from the leather of Deadpool’s suit and slowly moved it upward, lightly placing it on the mercs cheek. He let his thumb gently explore the grooves of the mercs scars, feeling each new texture, locking it away in his memory for later because this would be the only chance Tony would have to do so.

Tony let his nimble fingers dance over the scarred, cracked lips, his breath hitching as he imagined how painful moving those thin lips must be. The genius wished he would have another chance to do this, another chance to explore the merc, but he wouldn’t. This was it. Tony would make sure of that. The engineer quickly jerked his hand back as Wades form shifted below him, deep blue eyes fluttering open.

“Hey, sleepy head.” Wades voice was raspy and full of sleep and for some reason that made Tony’s heart squeeze. “This is a pretty sight to wake up to.”

Tony knew that was a lie. His eyes were probably puffy and his hair had to be sticking up at weird angles and he already knew his lips were probably cracked from chewing on them, one of his nervous habits. There was no way Tony was looking any sort of good right now, except he always looked good of course, because he’s Tony Freaking Stark and he has confidence, just not right after crying himself to sleep.

“Don’t get used to it.” Tony clipped as he lifted himself off of Wade, reaching for his crutches.

“Where’re you going?” Wade reached out and tugged him back, surprising Tony enough to make his breath catch. “You still look tired, babe. Lay back down, it’s only ten pm.”

Tony quickly pushed the surprise away as he tugged against the firm grasp, snatching his crutches up and darting away from the couch as quickly as possible.

He was freaking out, but he couldn’t break again. He wouldn’t let himself because if things kept going at this pace he wasn’t sure he was gonna be able to hold it together and he was not ready to lean on anyone for the emotional and mental support the ‘professional’ hicks Pepper had made him see had said he needed. Tony didn’t need someone to hold him upright, he was fully capable of doing it himself, fuck you very much. The genius could handle anything the world threw at him, except this... this- whatever it was.

Tony was NOT about to get lost in whatever this thing was that Wade was pulling him into, no way. He was not going to fall into this maze of emotions that only lead to a dead end filled with pain, loss, and anger. Nope, Tony was doing perfectly fine alone.

Sure he enjoyed Wades company but... That’s just it. It was just a bit of company and he knew Wade felt the same way because he didn’t fight Tony when he spoke again.

“I think... I think this was a mistake.” Tony licked his lips as chewed on his already raw upper lip, biting off dry skin until it hurt enough to bleed. “Last night was nothing.”

“Iron Daddy?” Tony could hear the confusion in the mercs voice but he refused to turn around because this needed to be done.

Tony had to end this sooner rather than later.

“We aren’t even on the same- this isn’t gonna happen.” Tony leaned onto one crutch as he took a breath to continue. “Last night was a mistake and I think... I think you should probably leave.”

He felt his chest squeeze a bit at his own words and the fact that the merc said nothing made his throat tighten in nervous anxiety.

“That kiss... it was just a one time thing. Desperation, lust, you name it, that’s it. I get it, you get it, but let’s just pretend it never happened. In fact, it’s probably best to pretend none of this ever happened, actually.”Tony didn’t hear anything, not a word and that only made another one of his nervous ticks kick in, rambling. “I mean, seriously? What did we think was going to come out of that? I can’t even hold hands with a guy, can’t even talk to my ex or hear his name without having an anxiety attack. A-And you’ve got a kid! A kid! And I’m not good with kids or people or relationships in general. I mean, my last boyfriend drove a shield through my chest, so... imagine what I would drive you to? I’d put everything you love in danger because that’s what I do. You work hard to keep her safe, I can see that, hell anyone who bothered to look your way could see it. I’d just be a nuisance...” Tony trailed, still without a peep from the mouth of the red clad merc. “I mean, look at me, I’m a mess. Like a REAL mess, and you’re getting your shit together. You’re helping Peter and you’re trying to do good and I’m just going to drag you down the same path... the same way I did-you’re too good for that. You’ve worked to hard and I’m... I’m just... a billionaire trash heap.” Tony swallowed back the tears forming in his eyes. “We should end this now because, Wade, you’re way out of my league.”

After a few beats of silence, Tony turned around to find the merc was already gone.

For how long? How had he left the room so fast and how hadn’t Tony heard him? Had he heard everything Tony said?

Suddenly the room felt cold, almost icy. He didn’t know what he expected. Did he think Wade would argue? Of course not, he already knew Wade was only acting on a whim. Wade flirts with EVERYONE. There is NOTHING special about Tony Stark. At least, nothing special enough to deal with his crazy. Wade probably had enough crazy to deal with and Tony would only add to the load.

The engineer knew this was for the best. He should be relieved Wade had seen his point and taken off while he could. He should be relieved he hadn’t gotten too attached before telling the merc to buzz off.

But then, why did he feel so bad?

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please ignore or point out typos.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rhodey and Pepper don’t understand...  
> Tony keeps secrets...  
> Deep blues are a lifeline...

Four days.

Tony had made it four days locked up in his compound suite before Rhodey and Pepper had come barging in. F.R.I.D.A.Y., the little traitor, had willingly let them too. It kinda irked Tony a bit that Pepper didn’t even have to use the override code to get in, his A.I. deciding for him that it was best to let in his two old pals.

“You know, lock down is a protocol for a reason.” Tony scoffed as his two best friends began crowding toward his spot on the couch where he was surrounded by paper and calculations from god only knows what. “Welcome to my accommodation of isolation.”

"Alright, Elsa.” Rhodey gathered a few papers off the couch next to Tony, tossing them onto the glass table before plopping down. “You’re not suppose to be working but, more importantly, you’re not suppose to be here for another three weeks.”

“You know me, Honey Bear.” Tony shrugged as he wrangled up a few of the papers. “I’m a workaholic, it’s my dirty habit.”

“Except, you’re the one who yelled at us about needing a vacation, so no, you don’t get to use that excuse.” Pepper cut in as she snatched a few of the papers out of Tony’s grip and placed them on the far side of the table, out of his reach.

“You know, we’re two percent down in stock prices?” Tony turned one of the remaining papers toward Pepper, ignoring her words in favor of the information on the page. “What am I saying, of course you knew that. The real question is, how did one of my creations, my fifth edition Stark Phone to be more precise, have a virus induced meltdown? No virus should be capable of breaking through my firewalls.”

“Tony-“

“Unless I made a miscalculation in the programming, which, of course, is ridiculous because I don’t make simple programming errors. I mean, I’m Tony freaking Stark.” Tony continued his rant despite Peppers persistent attempts to cut him off.

“Tony-“

“You know what that means? That means someone is fiddling with my code at production, and that’s where you come in.” Tony clapped his hands in front of him. “Find them, fire them, and reimburse my poor consumers.”

“Tony!” Rhodey finally cut him off instead. “What is going on with you?! We thought that your ‘vacation’ was suppose to help you but you seem worse off now than when it started.”

“Huh? Oh yeah, no I just got bored, everything’s fine.” Tony waved off Rhodeys concern.

“Bored?” Peppers exasperated voice cut through the air, her tone quickly changing to that familiar firm tone that the billionaire was used to being scolded by. “This isn’t just you being bored, Tony. You don’t just start looking through financial records and our stocks because you’re bored.” Tony opened his mouth to retort but Pepper raised her hand in warning. “No, don’t even try and logically explain away this meltdown because we both know it won’t work. Just come clean, tell us what’s going on. We’re worried, Tony.”

“Nothing to be worried about. There’s nothing wrong.” Tony shrugged his shoulders. “Everything’s dandy. I’m good, everything is good. Well, maybe not that drop in stock, that’s not so good, actually. Have you gotten to fixing that yet, by the way? That should be righted ASAP, like right now, actually.”

“Tony, shut up.” Rhodey snapped, his eyes hardened.

Tony snapped his mouth closed as he searched his best friends expression. He wasn’t actually mad at Tony, right? Great, just another thing for Tony to fuck up.

“Now, you’re gonna settle your perky ass down and tell us what the hell is going on.” Rhodey demanded, his tone still harsh but this time accompanied by an undertone of concern. “And don’t feed us that bullshit, ‘everything is fine’ line again or I’ll be forced to kick your ass.”

The room was silent as Tony let the words filter through his ears. After a few moments, Tony opened his mouth to speak.

“You think my ass is perky?”

“Tony..” Pepper groaned as she rubbed her temples in frustrations. “Please, we just want to help.”

“I... It’s really nothing.” Tony trailed as he avoided their eyes. “I’m just fucking everything up, as per usual, no big deal, really. You guys don’t have to worry, I’m used to it.”

“Fucking everything up? Tony, what’re you talking about?” Peppers tone softened as she looked down at the billionaire.

“Don’t even try to deny it, it’s okay, I know I’m a screw up, it’s like my second occupation.” Tony sighed as he rubbed his eyes. “I fucked up with us... I drove you away Pep, and I fucked up with the accords, and with...”Tonys voice became strangled and he immediately felt Peppers slender arms wrap around him, pulling him into a tight, familiar hug. “With Steve.”

“Oh Tony. You didn’t fuck us up, we’re still friends. Nothing is fucked up, we just didn’t fit together, it’s not your fault.” Pepper soothed him. “You didn’t drive me away, I’m still here. You could never drive me away, Tony.”

“And you didn’t fuck up with the Accords, you did what you thought was best and no one can fault you for that. Hell, I signed them too, remember?” Rhodey squeezed Tony’s shoulder in a delicate, comforting way. “And as for Steve, he’s just as much at fault as you are. It wasn’t just your doing, Tony. It takes two people to work things out, you can’t do it alone.”

“I tried to kill his best friend, I-“

“He kept a huge life changing secret from you!” Rhodey cut him off, anger at Steve charging his words. “You can’t be at fault for that! Hell, I’m a trained, level-headed Colonel and I probably would have reacted the same exact way!” Rhodey took a breath before speaking once more, this time calmly. “He’s at fault too.”

“Yeah?” Tony’s voice cracked, his throat dry.

“Yeah.” Pepper whispered, pulling back and looking the genius in the eyes. “You aren’t the only guilty party, Tony. The whole worlds problems don’t fall on your shoulders. Please believe that.”

Tony chewed at his bottom lip, letting the words settle as he tried to force himself to believe what they were saying. Were they right? He knew Steve was just as much to blame for the situation as he was but... it hurt. It hurt knowing Steve didn’t see things the same way as him. It hurt knowing he and Steve couldn’t stand on level ground without Tony wishing that same ground would just swallow him up. It hurt because, no matter what Tony said, he still very much loved the soldier but, there was too much... too much pain between them for their relationship to ever heal, and that... that was Tony’s fault.

Then Tony felt a new wave of pain. A sudden inexplicable anxiety, crashing over him like a hurricane. Blue eyes and scars and a soothing voice that made his heart thump erratically and he felt ready to throw up because this was also his fault. He’d fucked up, again. Tony had ruined another good thing, another good friendship. He was such an asshole. Wade was just trying to help and he’d sent him away in the most dickish way possible. He’d told the merc that their friendship was a mistake. No wonder Steve chose Bucky over him, who wouldn’t? He’s a prick.

“I- I said some pretty mean things to him.” Tony didn’t clarify who he was talking about. “I told him we were a mistake.”

“Then talk to him, Tony.” Pepper spoke, rubbing his shoulders lovingly. “Steve will understand. Besides, he probably said some hurtful things too.”

“Yeah?” Tony didn’t correct her assumption because, why would he? The last thing he thought was a good idea was telling his best friends that he was whining over Wade Wilson and not his ex lover.

“Yes. I’m sure he still loves you.” Pepper smiled as Tony looked up at her and he couldn’t help but force a small smile in return.

“Peppers right, Tony.” Rhodey spoke up, obviously misunderstanding Tony too. “I was hoping you and Steve could work things out, it’s obvious you still love him. I think it’s actually a good idea to talk to him, even if you don’t try again it’ll give you some closure.”

Tony didn’t mention he’d already talked to the soldier. He didn’t tell them that he’d cried himself to sleep once because of it. No, instead he nodded his head because that’s what he was suppose to do. They were right anyways. Tony needed to talk to Steve, that’s what everyone wanted. Clint had made it abundantly clear that he needs to man up and makeup with the team, and it only solidified the archers standpoint that Rhodey was thinking the same thing.

“Alright, Yeah, okay.” Tony nodded, swallowing back the voice at the back of his head telling him that he was an idiot. “I’ll... I’ll talk to him.”

“Good.” Rhodey smiled as he pulled Tony into a one armed hug, patting his back. “I can see it, you know?”

“See what?” Tony asked, confusion evident in the way he creased his eyebrows together, tilting his head slightly to the right.

“He still loves you.” Rhodey smiled as if he knew those were the words Tony wanted to hear. “You just need to let him make things right, like he’s been trying to do.” Tony faked a smile in return. “Just let him try, Tones. I know it’s hard, but it might just be worth it.”

“And, if he does happen to hurt you again, I’ll destroy him.” Pepper assured the billionaire as she placed an encouraging kiss to his cheek. “Now, let’s get you to bed, you look exhausted.”

Tony let Pepper and Rhodey drag him to bed. They made sure to tuck him in before exiting the room, demanding that F.R.I.D.A.Y. inform them if he got out of bed for anything but a bathroom trip. The A.I. agreed to their demands and they quickly swept out of the genius’ suite, leaving him alone with nothing but their words and his own thoughts.

Was it true? Was Steve really still in love with him?

Tony thought back to the way Steve had looked at him when he stepped off the plane. He couldn’t remember it very clearly, he hadn’t really wanted to be around him at that point in time, but he did remember the soft, sad tone of Steve’s voice. Maybe Rhodey was right. Maybe Tony should talk to Steve. Maybe attacking the soldier with his quick wit wasn’t mature.

Tony rolled onto his side as he brought his blanket up to his chin, snuggling into the warmth. He let out a sigh as he closed his eyes.

The billionaire would suck up his pride and speak to Steve tomorrow. He would hear him out, and try to smooth things out because it wasn’t only what was best for him, it was also what was best for the team. Even if Tony wasn’t happy, if it made everyone else happy, what harm could it do? It was about damn time Tony stop fucking everything up and if this was the way to amend things and fix his relations then he’d face them without fear.

Rhodey was right anyways, Tony did still love Steve. He wasn’t entirely sure what kind of love it was anymore, though. It was love that hurt, but maybe he could fix that. Maybe they could salvage everything, maybe, just maybe Steve and Tony could go back to the way things use to be. Back when Steve made the earth go round. Back when Tony knew, or at least thought, he was the most important person in the super soldiers life, because who wouldn’t want that? Who wouldn’t want to go back to a time when Steve Rogers loved them?

At that thought, Tony felt a dull ache in his chest as a familiar name lingered in his mind. He swallowed thickly as a familiar face filled his thoughts and he let himself remember the feeling of the scarred skin that surrounded the pools of deep blue. These blues were different from Steve’s sky blue eyes. These blues were soft yet cold. They were playful and comforting. Tony could say he hated blue eyes but he’d be lying because he loved those understanding, emotional blues that belonged to a certain someone.

He loved the deep blues that belonged to Wade Wilson.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please ignore or point out typos.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed these two chapters!


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A difficult talk with Steve...  
> An agreement to try...  
> A sudden realization...

Tony rubbed at his sleep filled eyes as he sat in his king sized bed. He hadn’t slept for very long, it had taken him hours to fall asleep and by the lack of sunlight peeking through his window, he assumed it was still early morning.

“Time?”

“Five twenty eight a.m.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. Replied as Tony pulled himself off his plush mattress, onto his crutches. He could've used a shower, he really could've but... it was kind of a struggle for him to stand without his crutches on a slippery surface with his cast so he decided against it this early in the morning. He hobbled his way to the kitchen, pulling out a mug as he poured himself a cup of hot coffee.

He took a large gulp, burning his throat in the best way as the substance flipped his mind to its ‘awake’ settings. It was gonna be a rough day, he already knew that, but he was going to get through the worst parts as soon as possible. The sooner he pushed through the bad stuff the sooner he could wallow in self pity or the like.

“Anyone awake?”

“Captain Rogers has just returned from his morning jog, Boss.”

Tony felt his throat tighten at the information before he decided to suck it up and do what he had to do. If Tony was anything, he was not a wimp.

“Where’s he at.” Tony practically grumbled as he took another swig of his coffee before placing it down on the counter.

“He is currently in the communal kitchen.”

“Thanks, buttercup.”

Tony pulled his crutches back to his sides and he made his way to the elevator. It took less than two minutes for him to make it to the entrance of the kitchen, spotting Steve clambering around with pots and pans as he readied to make the team breakfast. Tony took a big breath before steeling himself to enter the room.

“Sammy boy not helping you today?”

Steve’s shoulders stiffened in surprise as his hand froze midair.

“Tony?” Steve finally turned to look at the billionaire, his lips opening and closing as if he were trying to think of what to say. “W-what’re you doing here?”

“Uh... forget that I own the place?” Tony cocked his eyebrow as he stared at the gaping super soldier in amusement. “Thought I’d join you guys for breakfast.”

“Oh, right.” Steve nodded as he turned back to the stove, cracking a few eggs on the skillet in front of him. “How many eggs do you want?”

“Two.” Tonyreplied as he leaned against the counter top, watching the larger man fumble around nervously. “I also came to talk.”

Steve froze for a second more before he continued with his cooking. He threw on another skillet with bacon and put some bread in the toaster before he turned back to Tony, spatula in hand.

“I thought you didn’t wanna talk.” Steves eyebrows furrowed at Tony, as if he were trying to guess the billionaires agenda. “Seeing as how I let it turn out last time, I didn’t think you’d wanna talk to me again for at least a month.”

“Yeah well, you don’t know me as well as you thought.” Tony clicked his tongue as he swallowed back his anxiety, placing on a mask of indifference. “Now, let’s get to talking before everyone else decides it’s a good time to wake up.”

“The only other person who chooses to wake up this early is Sam.” Steve countered the billionaire as he turned back to the sizzling eggs. “He’s still out jogging.”

“Right, well talk because you’re the one that wanted this and I think I got all of my feeling out last time.” Tony said, he was being a bit snippy but Steve didn’t return his snappish attitude, probably a good thing.

“Tony...” Steve trailed as he clicked his tongue before flipping off the stove and turning to the genius. “Alright, we’ll talk, but not here.”

“What about your food?” Tony cocked his brow as Steve walked toward him.

“I’ll finish cooking after our talk.” Steve shrugged as he brushed past the billionaire. “Let’s go to my floor where no one can disturb us.”

Tony bit at his bottom lip before following the larger man toward the elevator. Tony already knew this had been a bad idea but... it was for the best, right?

***

Tony’s head felt a bit light at the strong, familiar scent of Steve’s room. It wasn’t the first time Tony had been in here since their falling out two years ago, but it was the first time he’d come in here without the intention of destroying Steve’s stuff. Pepper had put a stop to that, obviously Tony couldn’t go around burning down Steve’s whole room, it was connected to his building and that was Peppers entire argument. She hadn’t entirely been against burning a few of Steve’s belongings but she had put her foot down when Tony had mentioned just chucking the whole room into the fire.

“Here, I’ll make some coffee.” Steve cleared his throat as Tony plopped down onto the old styled couch. “Make yourself comfortable... or as comfortable as you can get.”

Tony nodded in acknowledgement as the super soldier disappeared to his personal kitchen. Tony could hear the clinking of cups as he looked around the room. Everything was exactly how he remembered, except for the few trinkets that Pepper HAD let him burn, everything was exactly how Steve left it. Did Steve notice the missing trinkets, or did he just chalk the missing items up to his imagination? Tony kinda hoped he realized they were gone because that’d at least make him feel like he was on a bit higher ground.

“Here.” Steve handed Tony the cup full of black liquid as the super soldier took a swig from a bottle of icy water.

Tony took a nervous sip of the coffee before setting in on the wooden table in front of him. He let his fingers fiddle with his shirt end as he waited for Steve to talk.

“I- I’m sorry.” The words surprised Tony because, what exactly was Steve apologizing for? Was he owning up to his mistakes? There was a lot he could probably apologize for by now but Tony just sat silently as he rolled his thumb across the threaded fabric. “I hurt you, Tony. The other day, I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that. You’re right, I don’t know you, not anymore at least.” He could hear Steve shuffle on the couch nervously. It made the genius feel a little better that he wasn’t the only uncomfortable one in this situation.

“I just... It hurts seeing you so close yet so far, but I get it. I get why- I understand-“ Steve let out a frustrated sigh as he fumbled for the right words, the words that wouldn’t piss the genius off and cause him to snap. “You have every right to be angry. I- I thought about what you said, about me not looking back. You’re right, I left you sitting there. I left you sitting in the cold, alone and with a destroyed suit and I didn’t even...” Steve trailed and Tony could swear he’d heard the soldiers voice shake. “I thought, I thought I was doing the right thing. I didn’t think you’d want me to come back, not after... after the look in your eyes when I slammed that shield into your reactor. God, your face still haunts me. I didn’t mean to hurt you, Tony.”

Steve went silent and Tony took a struggling breath as he forced himself to look toward the soldier.

If it’d been two year ago, the broken look on Steve’s face would have ripped his heart out. Tony would have crawled into his lap and pulled the soldier against him while he whispered loving words of encouragement into his ears, because Tony had been in love with Steve and seeing him hurt... it hurt Tony more than any physical wound possible could.

“I- I get why you did it. I’m not mad you stopped me, Steve. It just hurt, watching you walk away from me, in the arms of another man.”

As soon as Tony said those words, Steve’s expression changed, as if it just dawned on him what Tony had been trying to say this whole time. As if he finally understood the problem between them, the hurt he had caused the billionaire genius.

“It wasn’t like that.” Steve stated firmly, though he knew his words wouldn’t assure the billionaire of anything. “I didn’t choose Bu-“ Steve stopped before finishing that sentence because... he had chosen Bucky, hadn’t he? In Tony’s eyes that’s exactly how it looked and Steve couldn’t blame him. In Tony’s eyes, Steve had hurt him and walked away clinging to another man that wasn’t Tony.

“I get it. If you’d... If I were you- I just... erg.” Steve growled in frustration as he scrubbed his hand over his thick beard, this apparently had somehow amused Tony because the billionaire had his eyebrow cocked as his eyes sparked in anticipation.

Which, it did, it did amuse Tony to see Steve struggle. When was the last time Tony had seen the great Captain America struggle with anything outside of battle?

“I don’t love Bucky.” Steve clarified as he looked away from the engineers amused gaze. “Not in that sense anyways, not in the way I loved, still love, you.” Steve flicked his sky blues back over Tony’s face to find the mechanic narrowing his brown eyes down at Steve’s couch. “But, I understand if you don’t believe me. I get it. Really, I do. The other day, I still... you were right, you know.”

Tony’s eyes turned toward Steve, betraying the stony look on his face, filling with surprise at the soldiers words. Had Steve just admitted that he was wrong? Was Tony dreaming?

“I could have handled things differently. I should’ve told you about Bucky.” Steve clicked his tongue nervously as he held Tony’s gaze. “I knew you wouldn’t... that you’d try to understand. But I... It wasn’t fair of me to decide how you’d react for you and I’m an asshole for it.” Tony nodded at Steve’s words.

“Yeah, you are.” Tony let a small, uncomfortable smirk fall on his lips. “The biggest asshole I know.”

“Yeah?” Steve let out an airy half laugh before continuing. “I really am sorry, Tony. I wanna make it up to you, not just because I want you back but because I owe it to you to make things right. Even if we don’t... even if things don’t work out and you can’t love me like you did. I just... I want to try.”

“Yeah?” Tony let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding as he finally let his shoulders relax. It wasn’t quite enough, Tony wasn’t sure Steve’s words would ever be enough, but it was a start. “I don’t think... I want to say we can go back to the way we used to be. I want to say I can fall in love with you the same way I did after the Ultron incident, but... I don’t know if I...”

“No, I understand. I get it, Tony, I really do. I just wanna try, I wanna work on things. We don’t have to put a label on it, I won’t push you and you don’t have to push yourself to meet my expectations because, this isn’t about getting back on track.” Steve rubbed his hands together. “This is about us. It’s about fixing a friendship that we had long before we fell in love, okay? No immense pressure to force yourself here.”

Tony was definitely relieved. He’d expected Steve to push his agenda, and maybe that was his original intent but now... now he was starting to see things from Tony’s perspective. Tony knew this wasn’t over, Steve hadn’t just changed his mind about things that quickly but... It was start. Steve was trying, and if the super soldier was willing to try and see things for what they were, maybe Tony should try too.

“Okay.” Tony saw Steve’s shoulder sag in relief as he spoke. “We can try, the friend thing, I mean. I don’t think... I don’t know if anything else will come out of it, because..." Wades name flew through Tony’s mind as an explanation, and Tony’s chest seized momentarily. Had Clint not told Steve about the mercs visit? Did Steve know Tony had been hanging out with the mercenary? how would he react if- when he did find out? Tony was not looking forward to that day and he quickly pushed the thought from his mind because it was not going to be a pretty sight, not judging from the way Clint had handled it.

“I know.” Steve nodded before he let out a big breath, standing. “Alright, I think that’s enough for now.” Steve motioned his head toward the elevator. “The others are probably up and complaining about how breakfast was left unfinished on the stove, so... should we go finish it?”

“Okay.” Tony stood, clicking after Steve as they entered the elevator.

The chat had gone way better than Tony had been expecting it to, but something still left a sour taste in Tony’s mouth. He’d agreed to work things out, try for friendship and if it happened to fall into place, try for Them again... and that was it. That was exactly it and Tony knew it by the way his stomach lurched.

Tony didn’t want to try for them. Tony didn’t want to be with Steve, not in the way he was before. Tony still loved Steve, Tony would always love Steve, but he wasn’t IN love with Steve. Not anymore.

Wades face flitted through Tony’s mind and that’s when Tony’s breath felt too harsh for his lungs.

When had Tony- How hadn’t he realized? Well, he probably kinda did realize and just pushed it down, hammering it deep behind his anxieties and work. Tony swallowed as he remembered the words he had spoken to Wade, the silence the merc had given him before Tony realized he was gone. Tony had really fucked up on a monumental scale.

Sure, he wasn’t positive Wade felt the same way, in fact, he was pretty confident Wade didn’t but... he’d only said those words to save himself and that was beyond selfish. He could blame it on his anxieties but that was bullshit.

He wouldn’t blame his actions on something like that because that’s pushing the responsibility off of him. Tony had chosen to chase the mercenary off, to speak to him harshly... too call him a mistake. It was wrong and Tony had to own up to that because he’d been very adamant that Steve do the same.

The elevator opened and Steve stepped out, not even realizing Tony hadn’t followed. Tony stayed, lost in his thoughts as the door shut in front of him, locking him in the little boxed room, alone.

He could hear F.R.I.D.A.Y. Speaking to him, but he ignored her in favor of berating himself. Here he was pissed at Steve for deserting him and only thinking of himself when Tony had done the same thing. Had he hurt Wade? Of course he had. Anybody would be hurt after being told, by someone they thought cared, that they were a mistake. Tony felt disgusted with himself as he fumed at his own actions.

Why had he done that? Why was he so stupid? Why did he ignore everything, all the signs, and hide himself away? That’s not how Iron Man, a Stark man, handled himself.

They didn’t run away, at least that was what Jarvis told him when he was younger, and Tony knew it was true. He had been a coward. He ran away from the truth and pushed away his feelings in favor of protecting himself, which, in the end was only hurting him because now he knew.

Now he knew why he had grown so attached to the mouthy merc so quickly. Why he didn’t yell at Peter when he’d seen the kid again. Why he so badly wanted to touch Wades skin and didn’t mind the rough feeling of the mercs lips on his own.

Tony was done denying it.

Tony was IN love with Wade fucking Wilson.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please ignore or point out typos.
> 
> I apparently made some people mad with that last update but... I warned you guys hahaha. 
> 
> Anyways, I figured I’d go ahead and post this to relax your anger a bit. 
> 
> Also, no, not everything is solved with Steve. There’s still angst and drama to come but hopefully it doesn’t anger you as much as my previous update 😂😂😂 
> 
> I should add to my tags that Steve is redeemable because he IS getting a sequel. But he was and kinda is still a bit of a dick for now. 
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony gets his cast off...  
> His friends are insistent bastards...  
> Tony meets a certain young lady...

Tony was getting time off for good behavior. Today was the day he would get his cast removed and the billionaire genius could not be more happy. Okay, he could definitely be more happy, that was total lie. Tony would be a lot more happy if his favorite mouthy merc were still around.

Steve and Tony were getting along relatively well, not that they were hanging out and acting all buddy buddy but, Tony could actually be caught occupying the same room as him now. The other Avengers could see the change and Clint even took them getting along as a chance to tease them about old times. The genius would usually ignore Clint’s teasing comments but, Steve didn’t help much in that department. If Tony didn’t know any better, because the subject of the topic was him of course, he’d think he and Steve had something going on too, with the way Steve’s face flushed red at the sexual comments. Tony, of course, didn’t correct them because he didn’t really see a point. Why ruin their fun? It’s not like their little side comments were gonna push him into a relationship, besides, if he denied them they’d probably only get worse, Clint was an asshole like that.

“Because it’s just better for you to get out of the tower, even if it’s just a quick trip to the doctors office.” Pepper rolled her eyes at the mechanic as he let out a groan of disapproval. “You've been cooped up in here for four days straight doing god knows what, and really you need the fresh air. So, let’s go, Tony.”

Tony clicked his tongue in annoyance. Pepper was making everything all the more difficult. Sure, Tony had been cooped up in his suite for the past couple days, and sure, he hadn’t been answering any calls or knocks but it was for damn good reason. At least, to Tony it was a good reason, to everyone else he was just going through one of his hissy fits.

“I mean, did something happen between you and Steve? Natasha told me you guys were actually in the same room for dinner a few days ago before you locked yourself away in here again.” Pepper continued to pry as Tony rolled his eyes, slipping on one of his faded Black Sabbath hoodies. “Did you guys make up? Is that why you’ve been locked away? Steve been in here with you?”

Tony knew Pepper was just teasing, she obviously meant no harm but just the idea of what she was implying made the billionaire sick. What was with her and Rhodey and insisting he get back to the sexual escapades with his ex? Seriously? In what world was Tony even deemed ready to step into the domain with the man that practically tore his heart out? He could swear there had to be something wrong with his best friends heads.

“Nope. Captain Spangles hasn’t even been within twenty feet of my suite.” Tony slid his darkened red sunglasses over his face. “Kitchen agreements only, Pep. Anymore time with him will have me blowing my head off with my own repulsor. The guys insufferable enough.”

“Mhm, and you love it.” Pepper let a small smirk slip on her lips and if she could see behind Tony’s dark glasses, she’d know he was shooting her an annoyed glare.

“Past tense, Pep. Loved.” Tony snapped his fingers as he dragged himself up off the couch with his crutches. “As in, not anymore. What about that doesn’t fly with you and Rhodey?”

“We just see it, Tony.” Pepper sighed as she followed the billionaire into the elevator. “You’ve got that look in your eyes and, if it isn’t for Steve, then who? Natasha? Sam?” Pepper paused in thought. “Clint?”

Tony choked on his own spit at the last suggestion. There’s no way in hell he’d fall in love with a guy so far up his own ass as Clint is. Well, okay, that’s a lie, his head wasn’t up his ass, it was up Steve's' ass.

“Forget he was married?” Tony cocked his brow as he placed back on his stoic mask.

“Never stopped you before.” Pepper shrugged as the elevator began to move.

“Touché.” Tony nodded his head in agreement. “But no. I’m not in love with anyone.” Lies. “Is it so hard to believe that maybe I can live without a troubling romance for once?” Yes. “I mean, come on Pep, I went two years already without intimate contact whatsoever and what makes you think I suddenly crave affection from a jackass like him?”

“I don’t know, Tony.” Pepper sighed as the elevator doors opened back up. “I was just hoping you were healing. I just... I want you to be okay. I want you to be more than okay, I want you to be happy.”

“I am, Pep.” Tony rolled his eyes as he waved at Happy who waited on the far end of the garage next to the black Cadillac. “Hap, tell her, I’m as Happy as your name implies.”

“Yeah, whatever you say Boss.” Happy quickly agreed as he opened the door for them.

“See, Pep.” Tony smiled as he slid onto the leather seats. “Why can’t you be as excepting as Happy here? I’m fine, really.”

“Okay, fine fine.” Pepper ticked as she sat next to the genius. “I get it, I’ll leave you and your complicated affectionate emotions alone.”

“I knew you’d see things my way.” Tony huffed as Happy climbed into the front seat, starting up the car before pulling out of the compound garage. “Now, give the nice driver our directions so I can go to my pediatric appointment, mom.”

Pepper ignored Tony’s snide remark as she leaned forward to give Happy their destination.

Pepper was, of course, right. Tony was in love but there was no damn way he was telling her it was actually Wade Wilson who held his affections. Nope, no fucking way. That’d be his first ticket to a nut house and Tony needed a bit more time to come to terms with his feelings before arguing his way out of any and all judgmental slander that would bash him in the coming weeks over his choice of love interest. Clint had been enough for him, and he hadn’t even known Tony was into Wade that way. Just how would they react when they found out he was in love with said mouthy merc?

Not good, Tony was sure of that. Plus, Tony needed time to find the merc too. He was not revealing his feelings to these people before talking to Wade. If this was one sided, Tony needed to smother it before it grew. The mechanic didn’t need the world to know he was in a unrequited love, especially since he was just finally starting to heal from his last one. Press can be a brutal bitch.

If Wade rejected him, fine, he deserved it after the way he treated the merc. If Wade didn’t want to be his friend anymore after rejecting him, it’d probably deepen the blow an extensive amount but, he would respect Wades choice and he wouldn’t push to make the merc uncomfortable. Tony could handle Wade leaving, maybe he’d never love again but... he could handle it. If the whole world knew though, if everyone knew that Tony had been deserted a second time, been rejected because he wasn’t good enough and caught him wallowing in self pity, Tony thinks that just might do it.

***

It didn’t take long for them to reach the hospital where Tony was admitted, though the ride seemed to drag on forever. Tony felt like, though Pepper had said she would let it go, the red head was analyzing him every second of the ride there. As though if she stared at him long enough she would be able to read all of his secrets. What scared him though was... he kinda believed it.

What if Pepper connected the dots? What if she put Tony’s attitude change and Wades appearance together and found out that Tony loved the mouthy merc? How would she react? Would she react the way Clint did when the merc showed up? Would she tell Tony he was making a mistake, that he shouldn’t love someone so fucked up? That he should let the merc go and find love in Steve, because as much as he wishes they would all stop insisting, he knew that’s what they all wanted him to do.

Tony stood in the lobby, his glasses perched over his eyes as he leaned against the white dry wall. He was blending in pretty well, if he did say so himself. Only a few people glanced in his direction and it wasn’t for very long so he’s pretty sure they weren’t going to bother him.

Just as Tony thought he could relax, the universe answered his peaceful wait with a sudden tap on his hip. He flinched at the contact, jerking his head downward toward the soft high pitched voice that spoke up from below.

“‘Scuse me?” Tony looked down to find a pair of small, mocha colored eyes staring up at him, a cute gap toothed sweetie with a grin plastered across her lips. 

“And how can I help you?” Tony smiled down at the precious little duckling in front of him, her hair sticking out at random spots from her pony tail and Tony couldn’t help but think she was the cutest little thing.

He already knew what she was going to ask but his acknowledgment of her existence made her face light up as her grin stretched higher along her cheek bones. The gap in her tooth making the smile she gave him all the more adorable and if Tony ever wanted kids, he definitely wanted a daughter as precious as her. Most kids got excited over seeing Iron Man but it was rare that they recognize him outside the suit, though he wouldn’t say it never happened.

“Are you Tony Stark?” Her question made his eyebrows raise in surprise.

Tony was so used to the whole Iron Man shtick that the question of his real persona knocked him for a loop. How did this little girl even know his name, most kids couldn’t even remember his first name let alone his last. What was she, like five?

“Yeah, that’s my name kid, don’t wear it out.” Tony bent down as far as his crutches would allow him without tipping him forward. “Where are your parents? Didn’t they ever tell you not to talk to strangers?”

“Daddy says you’re no stranger.” Her brown eyes beamed up at Tony’s own, her hand now clasping his shirt in excitement. “Daddy says you’re the smartest man on Earth and you’re the best hero and that you’re really good at science.”

“Yeah?” Tony cocked his eyebrow, why the hell did this kids dad sound so obsessed with him. “Your dad sounds like a smart man.”

“Nope.” Tony snorted at the girls quick rejection. “Daddy’s kind of stupid but he’s funny and strong and brave and safe.”

“Well thank god he’s got something going for him.” Tony chuckled a little to himself as the little girl continued.

“He also said that you’d help me with my science project next time.” She tugged his shirt a bit as she got overexcited.

Tony stared down at he kid in confusion. What man in his right mind would tell their kid that Tony Stark would help them with their science project? How would they even plan on keeping that promise? Tony suddenly had the urge to meet this poor kids idiotic dad and give him an earful about empty promises.

“Where is your dad, kid?” Tony asked as he let his eyes shift around, searching for a face similar to hers.

“Oh, daddy isn’t here.” The little girls voice quieted down a bit, drawing Tony’s attention back to her. “I’m here with Emily and Terry because Jr. got hurt at school today and he probably broke his arm.”

Tony caught the flash of sadness the flitted through her eyes at the mention of her dad, though it was quickly shaken off by the little girl. It kind of impressed Tony how fast this she could adjust her attitude, though he definitely thought it was a bit sad considering it meant she was used to hiding her feelings over that particular subject.

“Well, Jr. doesn’t sound very safe.” Tony teased and the little girl giggled.

“He’s kinda dumb.” She finally let go of Tony’s shirt when a voice called out from in front of them.

“Eleanor Camacho!” A slightly heavy set woman came racing toward the two of them, worry lacing her features. “How many times do I have to tell you not to race off alone in public? What if some stranger snatched you up?!”

“Sorry, Emily.” The little girl Tony could now deem as Eleanor apologized as she bowed her head a bit in apology to the woman. “I just, I saw-“

“Tony!” Peppers voice rang out from behind them and he turned to find her standing next to his doctor, motioning him to follow them. “Let’s go, do you want the cast off or not because Dr. Flores says he actually recommends an extra-“

“Coming!” Tony quickly shouted over Pepper, cutting off her subtle threat. “Gotta jet kid. Apologize properly to Emily and probably don’t speak to strangers anymore, no matter what your dad says, okay?”

“Okay!” The little girl called in return as Tony made his way to Pepper, away from the worried woman and child, ready for his cast removal. “Bye, Iron Daddy!”

Tony froze in place at the nickname but before he could turn back and process just who he was really talking to, she was gone, her mother rushing her off in a frenzy toward the ER.

“Tony, lets go.” Pepper spoke once more, snapping Tony’s attention back to her and Dr. Flores.

“Right.” Tony shook his head as he followed after the two.

Tony didn’t pay attention much to the words of the doctor, only nodding and agreeing to what he was saying when it seemed he was being spoken to. Tony doesn’t recall the actual removal of the cast, he just remembers a humming noise and the feeling of cool air hitting his now pale leg, giving him goosebumps. He hardly even remembered sending Pepper away afterward as he sat in the waiting room, claiming he had a few questions for Dr. Palmer, his favorite Surgeon.

Nope, all Tony could think about was that little girl and the name she had called him. He was pretty sure there was only one idiot who would dare call him that, and there was absolutely only one idiot who would refer to him as such in front of their child.

How the billionaire could have been so oblivious to the situation he wasn’t sure. What other moron would promise their daughter a project with Tony Stark? Though, Tony did say he would do it, he hadn’t thought they had taken it seriously. The mechanic had no doubts about it now, though.

Tony had just met Wade Wilson’s Daughter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ignore or point out typos...
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A project with Ellie...  
> Tony teases her fashion choices...  
> Tony just really loves Wade.

“No, I don’t think that shade of pink is very flattering, how about hot pink?” Tony swiped his finger across the screen to change the color of the roller blades. “What do you think about putting some purple flames on the sides?”

“Purple?” Ellie scrunched her eyebrows in thought as she narrowed her eyes at the screen. “I like green.”

“Green?” Tony lifted his lip in mock disgust as he looked over at her atop the chair he had pulled up to his holographic screen. “You should never be a designer, you’d make someone’s house look like a clowns nightmare.”

“Clowns are cool!” Ellie smiled, the gap in her teeth showing as her face lit up. “Can we put clowns on them instead?!”

“Eck, remind me to never let you help me design my suit.” Tony crinkled his nose as he flipped his fingers over the screen, placing some clowns onto the hot pink skates. “At least no one will steal them, not that they’d get away with it when I have the software downloaded for the tracker.”

“Can we make the wheels orange?” Ellie piped up, ignoring Tony’s teasing as she reached out at the screen and clicked on the four wheels on the skates. “Orange on this one.” she clicked at her desired shade. “And yellow wheels on this one!”

“Jesus, this is a disaster.” Tony chuckled as they looked at the final product. “But, I must say I do enjoy your artistic input, no matter how repulsive and outlandish the ideas are.”

Ellie giggled as she hopped down off of the chair, scurrying toward Tony’s awaiting robot.

It’d been a week since he’d gotten his cast removed. Tony had waited three hours for Ellie and her family to show back up in the hospital waiting room, a young boy sporting a cast flipped out when he realized Iron Man was approaching him. He, of course, signed the boys cast and gave the kid his sunglasses as a polite greeting before greeting Ellie once more. The young girl had confirmed his suspicion that Wade was, in fact, her father, though she made it abundantly clear that her mother was no longer around and Wade hadn’t been home in a few days. Emily, her step mother, explained Wade had gone on a business trip and Tony’s stomach dropped. Was Wade killing people? Had Wade gone back to his old ways? Had Tony caused it?

The thoughts running through his head made him internally lurch. He could feel his stomach tighten and he wanted to throw up but he quickly pushed it aside as he continued the conversation. Emily and Terry explained that Wade would be returning home in the next two weeks and Tony decided not to think about just what the merc with a mouth was doing because it made him feel sick. Instead he focused on the fact that he’d be able to see the merc soon. After letting himself bask in the delight of Wades return for a short moment, he returned to the task at hand and managed to convince Ellie’s step parents to allow him to kidnap her once a day for a few hours. He explained that he had talked to Wade before about working on some fun projects with the little scientist and thankfully they had heard all about him and his exciting promises from Wade, though Wade had greatly exaggerated just how persistent Tony had been to work with Ellie. He assumed Wade had exaggerated it to make Ellie happy. Tony didn’t mind though, in fact, Tony was more than happy to nab the little one for awhile. She was great and even after a week he found her presence to be like a ray of sunshine in his otherwise dull lab.

“Daddy is coming home today.” Ellie’s words had Tony snapping his head back in her direction as he implemented their order to SI. “He said he would pick me up today too.”

“Y-You’re dads picking you up?” Tony swallowed as he looked at her excited face. “Like, not Terry but Wade?”

“Yup!” Ellie smiled largely as she accepted the tennis ball from Dum-E and tossed it across the room, sending the robot rolling after it. “Daddy wanted me to stay home so he could see me today but I said I was going to your house and he said that he’d pick me up and take me out for ice cream!”

“I hope your taste in ice cream is better than your taste in fashion.” Tony snorted as Dum-E strolled back up to the little girl, holding out the tennis ball for her to throw again.

Tony already saw it coming before it happened. Just as Ellie reached out to take the ball, butterfingers snatched it away from Dum-E, scurrying off into the opposite direction, like the jealous prick he was. Tony cocked his eyebrow at the excited giggle that Ellie let out as she chased off after the other robot, a small smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. God what Tony would have given to have her meet J.A.R.V.I.S. She probably would have gotten along so well with him and Tony was positive That his A.I. would have fallen in love with the little girl just as Tony had. He would probably have lectured Tony for teasing her for her fashion choices. He probably would’ve showed her some of his atrocious fashion choices from college too, just to spite him. The thought made him kind of sad actually, he really missed J.A.R.V.I.S.

“Boss.”

Tony snapped out of his thoughts as he looked upward, as if F.R.I.D.A.Y. were somewhere above him.

“Yes, gumdrop?”

“SirFunkalot is at the compound entrance to receive Eleanor.”

Tony felt his throat tighten at the mention of Wade. He thought he was prepared, he’d pepped himself up for his first encounter with after... after the whole kissing incident but he wasn’t quite sure how to handle the nervous jitters he was feeling.

“Right.” Tony swallowed as he took a breath. “Send him down to the lab, I gotta... I gotta get her stuff together and I’m sure he doesn’t wanna sit up there and bump into Clint or Steve.”

“Right away, Boss.”

Tony let out a breath as he stepped up to the table covered in school papers and pencils. He’d been helping Ellie with her homework before they started their little roller skate project, which Ellie had nicknamed Project:StarkSpeed. The name had put a smile on his face because she’d made sure to include his name, she’d even insisted she wanted her skates to be called Stark Skates. Tony had never had a child like him so much and he was honestly smitten with how excited she was to see him everyday, as if she hadn’t just seen him the day before.

“Hey, Elephant!” Tony finished placing her papers back into her folder as he tucked it into her bag, zipping it up. “Your pops here.”

Just as Tony let the words fall out of his mouth, the elevator door opened to reveal Wade in casual clothes. His hood was pulled up as far as it would go, his face tucked behind the edge of it and his hands were engulfed in a pair of knitted gloves. Tony couldn’t help but frown at the sight. He hated seeing just how insecure Wade was about his looks because he knew exactly how it felt to be insecure about himself. It was painful and lonely and Wade was so much more than his scars and Tony wished he could say that but he couldn’t because it wasn’t his place. Instead he turned his attention back to the brown haired beauty in front of him, slipping her Hello Kitty backpack over her shoulder. He had a feeling that the character had a lot more to do with Wade than it did with Ellie’s favorite cartoon.

“Daddy!” Ellie’s eyes widened as she scurried to the other man, throwing herself at him as she wrapped her arms around his stomach.

“Hey, Ellie-bean.” Tony would have to steal that nickname. “You ready for ice cream?”

“Yeah!” Ellie answered as Wade crouched down to adjust her book-bag straps, pulling them back onto her shoulders carefully. “I want orange sherbet!”

“Jesus, your taste really sucks kid.” Tony teased as he walked up to them. “Do you have a good taste in anything except idols?”

“Orange sherbet is great.” Wades voice chimed in and Tony felt his heart squeeze as the familiar voice was directed at him. “What’s wrong with her taste?”

“She designed the most horrendous skates today.” Tony crinkled his nose as he looked down at Wade to find the blue eyes staring back at him and god what Tony would give to swim in those beautiful pools of blue. “Clowns and mismatched wheels and striped laces.”

“All valid choices.” Wade scoffed in mock offense. “What’s wrong with clowns? A noble profession!”

“Tony says my designs are a clowns nightmare.” Ellie beamed up at Wade as the larger man stood up from his spot on the floor.

“It’s like I always say, if you can scare a clown, you’re doing something right.” Wade smiled down at her before sliding his eyes back Tony’s way.

“When have you ever said that?”

“Just now.”

Tony snorted at the mercs response before going silent. He wasn’t sure what to say now and the air felt kind of heavy now that they weren’t filling it with chatter. He knew they needed to talk, he wanted to talk, not just because of his new found feelings but because of his hurtful words. He needed to apologize, needed to make sure Wade knew it wasn’t him that was the mistake. No, Tony was the mistake but if Wade was willing to give this mistake a chance to become something more than just a mistake then Tony really wanted to try.

“Can Tony come with us?” Ellie’s voice cut in once more, breaking their awkward stare. “Please Daddy?”

“I... Ellie-bean...” Wade trailed as his eyes slid from Ellie to Tony. “I... does Tony want to go?”

Wade seemed to be indirectly asking him and it made Tony’s heart flutter. Did Wade actually want him to go? Was he actually inviting Tony or was this just to satisfy Ellie? Tony didn’t know but the look in Wades eyes didn’t seem displeased at having to invite the genius, in fact, it almost seemed to Tony like Wade actually wanted him to go, but maybe that was just his bias speaking. Tony really wanted to go, he needed to talk to Wade anyways and he honestly really missed him. Tony opened his mouth to answer only for Ellie to speak up before he could.

“Of course Tony wants to go!” Ellie cheered happily as she grasped Tony’s hand. “He’s my best friend! My Tony!”

Tony couldn’t help the smile that broke out across his face at her words. God, Ellie was a complete angel. Tony turned his eyes back to Wade to find him smirking at Tony in a teasing way, making the billionaire sport a small blush.

“Yeah? Well that’s too bad Ellie belly because he’s already MY Tony.” Ellie put on a playfully annoyed pout at his words before she spoke up to retort but Tony tuned her out as he let their words settle over him.

Wade had called him HIS Tony and, although Tony knew he was probably just saying so to tease Ellie, he couldn’t help the fluttering in his chest at the words. He wished Wade meant it the way he wanted him to. He wanted to be WADES Tony. He wanted Wade to claim him, Mark him as his own and god what he would give for Wade to just hold him like he did the last time they saw each other but... Tony didn’t deserve it. He didn’t deserve any of that after what he’d said to Wade, did he?

“Alright, Iron babe, lets go get ice cream.” Wade winked at Tony and it only made Tony’s chest tighten even more because god, Wade was so perfectly imperfect.

“Yay!” Ellie took off into the elevator, leaving the two men to trail behind her.

“Hey, you alright?” Concern dripped from Wades words and Tony knew he didn’t deserve it but he definitely wanted it.

“Y-Yeah.” He managed as he chewed his lip, looking to Wade. “Can we- can we talk? Like... I want to talk. Please?”

“Yeah, okay.” Wade nodded, his missing brows scrunching in concerned confusion. “Let’s get Ellie her ice cream and go to the park, and we can watch her play and chat. You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah I...” Tony trailed before letting his eyes slide to the elevator as they stepped through the door. “You’re here, I’m okay... I’m okay now.”

Wade didn’t say anything else but Tony had caught the surprised look that splayed across his face before the merc tamped it down, giving him a small, insecure smile that made Tony’s heart hurt. Wade shouldn’t have to feel that way and it was Tony’s fault he did, but he would make it better. He would fix it. He loved Wade and he just... he could fix this.

He could.

Couldn’t he?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here’s a chapter. The angst is not over yet though guys so... don’t get too comfortable! Sorry it took me so long to update this chapter, I’m a mess!  
> I hope you enjoyed this little bit of Ellie time. There is definitely more to come but their dynamic is just too cute!  
> Anyways!
> 
> Please ignore or point out typos!!!
> 
> ENJOY!


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ice cream at the park...  
> Tony and Wade talk...  
> Tony feels a little dead inside.

Steve’s favorite ice cream was butter pecan. Tony had always made fun of him for it because he counted that as one of the many old people flavors. Secretly, he actually didn’t mind the flavor much himself, though Tony definitely preferred Hazel nut, which is exactly why Ben and Jerry named a new flavor after the genius billionaire hero. He was quite proud of that actually and, though Steve made fun of him for it, his new favorite ice cream quickly became Stark Raving Hazelnut.

“You would pick the ice cream named after yourself.” Wade chuckled airily as he spooned at his container of Cherry Garcia.

At first Wade had been going to take them to get cones but, Ellie had wanted a full container and Wade definitely had a problem telling her no. Tony couldn’t help but find that fact kinda cute.

“Hey, if they’re willing to name an ice cream after me, of course I’m gonna invest.” Tony shrugged as he took another bite off his spoon. “So...” Tony clicked his tongue awkwardly as he looked out at the play ground to find Ellie inching up and around the corkscrew climber, with her container of ice cream tucked in her left elbow. “You... had a mission.”

“Yup.” Wade popped the ‘P’ as he closer his container and tossed it into the trash. “Big job. Massive actually. Head boss of the Chinese mafia called me up. Good guy, a little murderie but... who isn’t these days.” Wade shrugged as he flopped back on the bench, swinging his arms over the back, tilting his head upward at the blue, clouded sky. “I mean, even kids sing songs about putting a cap in Barney’s ass so... murder is a pretty standard concept these days.”

Tony chewed his bottom lip as he listened to Wades rambling. The merc obviously knew what Tony was trying to get at but he wasn’t gonna answer unless Tony said it out loud. Tony felt like he was being punished but he couldn’t really blame Wade.

“Did you...” Tony trailed, trying to think of a more casual way of asking whether or not Wade had murdered anyone, which was, obviously, not an easy feat. “Was it a hit?”

“Ah, I knew thats what you were getting at.” Wade let out a small chuckle, which Tony could tell was completely forced. “What am I if not a murderer?”

“That’s not what I-“

“No, you’re right. One hundred percent.” Wades lips turned into a harsh smile as he turned his face Tony’s way. “You really shouldn’t spend your time hanging out with a killer, could besmirch your honor or some shit.” Wade huffed and Tony hated the self-loathing that was obvious in Wades tone. “I definitely wouldn’t hangout with me if I weren’t me. Yeah, exactly, White is totally right. You guys are stuck with me, deal with it, I hate you guys too.”

“Wade.”

“Hey, you guys are just as blood thirsty as me, no denying that.” Wade ignored Tony as he continued to berate himself. “Nah, we’re definitely shitty together, without me there is no you.”

“Wade, I-“

“Of course he’s disgusted with us.” Wade let out a self deprecating chuckle. “WE’RE disgusted with us. Who wouldn’t b-“

“WADE!” Tony snapped, already tired of Wades hateful self comments. “Shut up! For one damn minute just shut your mouth!”

Tony watched Wades mouth snap shut as the self babble ceased. The billionaire took a breath as he let the background noise wash over them. The sounds of children laughing and the soft squeak of the swings filled the air as he snapped his ice cream closed, stalling for a bit of time to plan his next words. He opened his mouth, deciding an answer to his earlier question was most important.

“Did you kill anyone?”

Wade hesitated, as if trying to decide what to say. Whether to tell the truth or not.

“I-“ Wade cut before deciding on a different answer. “No.”

“No?” Tony looked to him, hopeful.

“No.” Wade nodded, finally looking into Tony’s eyes. “It wasn’t that kind of job. It was...” Wade clicked his tongue. “A rescue mission, kinda.”

“Yeah?” Tony felt relief wash through him.

Wade hadn’t killed anyone. Wade hadn’t reverted and god was Tony relieved he hadn’t caused some kind of massive breakdown in the mouthy merc.

“Rescue some damsel in distress and get laid as a bonus?” Tony joked, which he quickly came to regret.

“Basically.” Wade shrugged and Tony felt his stomach lurch. “Chicks seem to dig the whole super hero vibe.”

Tony felt his heart drop and fuck did he feel stupid. He’d known their kiss hadn’t meant anything to Wade but, he’d let himself hope. He’d let himself believe that, maybe, Wade had wanted something more. That he might have wanted what Tony wanted but here he was, feeling like some kind of jackass because he had been about to confess to a man who didn’t even think twice about finding another broad to fuck.

What was Tony even thinking? He’d been the one to reject Wade so he couldn’t be upset. It was his own damn fault for getting his hopes up in the first place. Wade didn’t love him, not in the way Tony did and Tony had already known that, so why did he even think confessing would’ve been a good idea. God, he felt like a jackass.

“So, before I left-“ Wade began and Tony quickly cut him off.

“Sorry for being so harsh.” Tony smiled softly, hiding his pain behind his usual facade. Just because he felt pathetic didn’t mean he had to look it. “I just-“

“Nah, I get it.” Wade shrugged. “I wouldn’t wanna be kissed by my mug either. I mean, c’mon, you’re Tony Stark and I’m... well... ya know.”

And Tony did know. He also knew that Wade was completely wrong and he’d just been about to tell Wade that when the merc spoke once more.

“It won’t happen again.” Wade shrugged nonchalantly. “Ain’t gotta worry about that, Iron buns. I just get a bit lonely and desperate sometimes, dry spells get me that way.”

And suddenly Tony’s chest hurt because he’d just confirmed Tony’s thoughts perfectly. Wade Wilson didn’t like Tony, he was just... concupiscent and Tony had just been the closest one to him at the moment.

“Yeah. That’s...” Tony nodded as he avoided looking at the mercs face, feeling awkward and hurt and suddenly very, very tired. “That’s probably for the best.”

Tony quickly pushed his emotions aside as Ellie came bouncing their way, a large smile one her lips. Tony would deal with the pain later, or not. Probably not. He’d rather just lock himself in his lab and work it off, which he was allowed to do now because... he’s healthy and Pepper was on a business trip so there was no one there to stop him. Yeah, Tony just needed a bit of time in his lab. Maybe a week or two and he’d be okay.

He focused his attention on the brown haired beauty who pulled a green dotted rock out of her pocket, excitedly showing Tony the message written on it by the nearby geology students. After very little convincing, Tony agreed to help her rehide the rock somewhere nearby his tower so someone else could find it. Before he knew it he was able to put Wades words to the back of his mind. He still had Ellie, and he wasn’t gonna let this stop him from spending time with her. They’d bonded, and he’d promised to help her with her upcoming science fair project. She was more important than his pitiful feelings for Wade, he would help her win, heartbreak or not heartbreak.

Tony didn’t pay much attention to Wade as Ellie pulled him away, toward the playground. He didn’t need to anyways, they’d said what they needed to say and it wasn’t like there was much more for them to talk about. Wade was content and Tony would have to get over it. Tony didn’t wanna stick around the bench to hear anymore about Wades escapades in China anyways, he’d heard quite enough for one day, so he didn’t even look back as he stumbled after the overexcited six year old.

If Wade looked a little hurt at Tony’s last words, Tony surely hadn’t seen it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the angst returns....  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it’s a little short but ya know, it happens.   
> Don’t worry, things will work out eventually. No need to cry or punch your screen or hate me. The world works in mysterious ways and idk what I’m saying anymore but like... enjoy!
> 
> Please ignore or point out typos.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You can’t climb a hurdle if the hurdle continues to grow...  
> Tony wants to let go...  
> Steve just wants Tony...

Two weeks had passed since Wade and Tony had had their achingly painful conversation and Tony didn’t feeling any less heart broken. He didn’t show it, especially not while the merc kept visiting everyday with Ellie, but the very presence of the merc was a bit much. Tony needed to heal and he just couldn’t seem to do that with the merc hanging around all the time, not that he had much of a choice. He couldn’t tell Wade not to accompany his daughter and he definitely wasn’t going to stop sciencing it up with his little lab assistant. Sure, it was painful but... he’d grown very attached to the deviant little girl. She was witty for a six year old and the way she clung to Tony made his emotional turmoil worth it.

Nope, Tony wouldn’t turn them away. The billionaire could handle the pain of seeing Wade for a few hours every other day in exchange for time with Ellie. Maybe Rhodey was right about his lack of self preservation skills because... he sorta also basked in the soft, meaningless shoulder touches and casual, flirty smiles from the merc, even if it did leave behind an aftertaste of bitter sorrow.

“Tony, dinner.” A voice rang out from the workshop entry way and Tony spun around on his wheely chair, which Ellie insisted was a necessity, to find Steve balancing an armful of art supplies and a plate full of linguine. “We made your favorite.”

“By ‘we’ you actually mean you, right? Because if Clint had anything to do with it, I fear for my life.” Tony smirked as he pushed backwards, rolling toward Steve’s usual table.  
Tony hadn’t exactly been completely comfortable with the nightly visits from Steve at first but, he decided it was probably for the best just to let the super soldier make his attempts to patch things up. It wasn’t like Tony saw it as anything more than team building anyways, and he couldn’t care less how Steve saw things. If the super soldier thought this was anything more than a tossed cookie from the billionaire, then that was his problem.

“Yeah, that’s fair.” Steve chuckled as he slid the plate across the metal surface before taking a seat on the cushioned stool Tony had bought back before everything went to shit. Before the Civil War, Steve used to spend hours in the lab with Tony, drawing and playing with his bots and Tony had honestly just never gotten around to throwing the damn stool out, sue him. “After his ghost pepper chili, I don’t blame you.”

“Was he trying to burn my face off?” Tony scoffed as he twirled his fork in the noodles, scooping them into his mouth before letting out a groan of happiness. He hadn’t realized just how hungry he had been but the taste of his favorite noodles definitely reminded him. “I forgot how good these were.”

“You used to have me make them all the time.” Steve snorted as he opened his sketchbook to a clean page. “How do you forget when you literally had me make them every three days?”

“Hey, it’s been two years, Steve-O.” The nickname slipped from Tony’s lips before he could even think about it, not that he noticed it right away. In fact, Tony didn’t realize exactly what he’d said until the awkward silence drew his eyes up from his plate as he chewed another mouthful of the heavenly noodles. “What?”

“You... Steve-O... you didn’t call me Cap.” Steve chewed his bottom lip, nervously, as if he were afraid pointing out the obvious would scare Tony off. Or maybe he was afraid that Tony would take it back? He wasn’t sure.

“Yeah? Guess it just kinda slipped out.” Tony shrugged as he swallowed another forkful. “I mean, thats what you were aiming for, right? Silly nicknames and banter sort of come with the ‘old times’ package.”

“So, this is happening?” Steve’s shoulder stiffened and Tony couldn’t help but take pity on the super soldier.

Tony could never completely forgive Steve for what happened, but he knew he’d have to eventually work past it. Everyone was watching Tony’s every move and everyone wanted things to smooth out and Tony had disappointed enough people in his life to know that sometimes it was for the best to just do what they wanted. Besides, Steve really was trying and despite the anger Tony still felt, he couldn’t help but think it was more painful to watch the super soldier flounder for his attention.

“Yeah, I guess?” Tony cocked his eyebrow. “I mean, I wouldn’t count this as some grand friendship but, maybe we’ll get there? I don’t know. I’m just rolling with punches, Steve.”

“Right.” Steve nodded and he let his shoulder relax before picking up his graphite pencil. “That’s... this is good. I just, I really missed it.” Steve licked his lips nervously as he rolled the thin pencil between his fingers. “I missed this camaraderie, probably more than us, actually. Don’t get me wrong, I love the rest of the team but... without...” Steve clicked the tip of the pencil against the table. “It wasn’t the same without you, Tony.”

Tony peaked up through his lashes as he pushed the last bit of noodles around on his plate. Steve’s words were raw, and for the first time Tony could sense the complete sincerity in them. He could hear the pain and loss that he’d never thought he’d hear come from Steve Rogers. Tony had been hurt, and he’d made it clear as day just how hurt he was but, this was the first time Tony had been able to catch a glimpse at any pain that Steve had struggled with. Tony wasn’t surprised that Steve was hurt, of course he would be. He was surprised at the reason though.

He wasn’t hurt that Tony had attacked his best friend, angry yes, but not hurt. He wasn’t hurt that Tony had tried to arrest him and turn him over to Ross, no, Steve understood that perfectly well.

Steve was hurt because he lost Tony. He was hurt because Tony rejected any and all attempts to talk things out, and why did Tony suddenly feel so guilty?

Tony’s stomach turned, and not in the exciting way that it did for Wade, but in an uncomfortable, slimy way. Tony shouldn’t feel guilty. No, there was no reason to feel guilty.

It was Steve’s fault.

Steve had left.

Steve had betrayed his trust.

Steve had left him in radio silence for two years.

Steve had thrown him a half-ass apology.

STEVE STEVE STEVE!

It was ALL Steve, NOT Tony.

...

But it was, wasn’t it?

Tony had been given the choice.

Tony had been handed a number.

Steve had reached out and, although the ‘apology’ had been shitty, he had given Tony the option. Steve had given Tony space, given Tony a choice instead of forcing it on him, and Tony had rejected it. Tony had rejected it and thrown it in his face and, although the billionaire had every RIGHT to... he felt guilty because maybe Steve really was just an idiot. Maybe he really had just thought he was doing the right thing, no matter how shitty it was.

Could Tony fault him for that?

Yes, and Tony had. Tony had every right to be angry because Steve was suppose to love him and love means honesty and honesty means trust and Steve hadn’t trusted him.

That’s what it all came down to, huh?

Tony was angry that Steve had left him. He was angry that Steve hadn’t looked back, that he’d sent a shitty note as a last ditch effort.

But really, Tony was just hurt that Steve hadn’t trusted him.

That Steve kept a secret from him for fear of Tony’s reaction, and that’s where the guilt lay. Tony felt guilty because in some way, Tony understood why Steve lacked trust, though that didn’t mean Tony forgave him. Nope, no fucking way. Even if Steve had some tangible reason, even if he felt the same way Tony did about himself, Steve should’ve told him.

“You didn’t trust me.” Tony let his fork clack against the plate as he balled his hands into fists on the cool metal table top. “I guess, I get why. I wouldn’t trust me either, but you were suppose to. You were suppose to trust me because that’s what love is.” He could hear Steve take a breath to speak but his next words brought Steve’s words to a halt. “You did, right?” Tony swallowed as he bit hard on his bottom lip. “Love me, I mean. You did love me?”

Silence fell over them like a thick smog and Suddenly it was hard for Tony to breath. He wasn’t having a panic attack but this wasn’t much better. Tony felt sick to his stomach and god he wished sometimes he could just learn how to shut his mouth.

“God, Tony. Is that what you think?” Steve’s voice cracked and Tony’s eyes drifted upward to find the Super soldier looking at him with a pair of sad eyes. “That I didn’t love you? Is that what you thought this whole time?”

Tony let out a shaky breath as he gave a small shrug in response.

“Fuck, Tony.”

“language.” A habit.

“Shut up.” Steve let out an airy huff as he rubbed his eyes, tired. “I just... how could you think that? How could you think I didn’t love you?” He let his hand slide down his face and go slack against the table as he opened his blues to look Tony in the eyes. “I fucking loved you. I still love you, damnit. So, so much.”

Tony clenched his jaw and he felt the sting of his nails digging painfully into his skin as his fists tightened.

“You’re... you’re my world, Tony. You’re everything.”

“Everything?” Tony bit out with a disbelieving laugh. “Do you trust anyone, Steve? You sure didn’t trust me, and what am I? Your everything? If you can’t trust your everything then who can you trust?”

Suddenly, Tony felt cold all over.

How had a pleasant evening turned into this? How had linguine turned into Tony falling apart again? Why did Steve’s presence invoke the worst in him? Why couldn’t Tony climb this hurdle?

“Bucky.” Tony closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. “You trust Bucky.”

“Tony I-“

“Even brainwashed, you trusted him more than me.” Tony sighed. “I’m not your everything, Steve, because if I were, you wouldn’t have anything.”

Tony let the silence wash over them.

Tony’s words hadn’t held malice, but the damage was just as much. His words had been another slice between them. They were healing, but their wounds weren’t closing together. The chasm between them would never be filled, and Tony could accept that. He’d expected it, actually. He and Steve would never be the same.

Sure, they could be teammates. And yeah, maybe they would eventually be friends but, they could never be what they had been, relationship or not and Tony...

Tony was okay with that.

Tony opened his eyes to find himself alone. A small pang of sadness radiated through Tony’s chest as he stared at the empty stool. Steve’s sketch book lay open and blank, his pencil snapped in half and Tony furrowed his brows.

It was obvious Tony could accept their fate.

But Steve...

Steve could not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please ignore or point typos.
> 
> I didn’t have a lot of time to read through this more than once so, if there are a lot of typos, apologies. If I don’t post it now, I’ll probably forget entirely and it’ll be another few weeks before I get back to it to edit it haha. So I’m posting it with or without typos... although my other chapters have major typos too so you’re used to it by now.  
> Still using my phone for updates because I’m too lazy to get on a computer... one day I’ll get on a laptop and edit the typos out of my chapters! ONE DAY!  
> But not today...  
> Anyways, despite the mistakes and all jokes aside...  
> I hope you enjoy this chapter!!!


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha is more understanding than she appears...  
> Tony just needs some advice...  
> And Clint, well... Clint just enjoys breaking stuff.

“If you’ve shown up here to tell me I’m a selfish asshole, waste of your time.” Tony hollered as he clapped his hands together, compacting all of his data into one file. “Heard it all before and, quite honestly, I never listened then either, so...”

Natasha folded her arms over her chest as she cocked her perfectly shaped brow at the billionaire. Tony had expected a visit from one of Steve’s lackeys. Of course one of them would visit, with what he’d said to Steve, Tony could expect nothing less.

“I’m not here to lecture you, Tony.” Natasha said. “I’m actually here to save you from the lecture. Trust me, it was either me or Sam.”

“Oh jeese, yeah, thanks for the rescue Natty-Bear.” Tony closed out of the servers as he turned to face Natasha. “Have I ever told you how much it means to me that you don’t lecture me on my life choices? Because, if not, I definitely owe you a new update of those Widow bites.”

“I would accept an update.” Natasha smirked as she took a seat on the cushioned stool that Steve had been occupying only hours ago. “But what I would like more is for you to tell me when your infatuation with Wade Wilson started.”

“Well lucky for you I’ve already got a few updates pla- wait, what?” Tony’s eyes widened in panic as he caught Natashas knowing smirk. “I don’t... I have... what?”

“Tony, you’re more obvious about liking Wade than Steve is about liking you.” Natasha leaned forward against the table as she spoke. “I mean, you let the guy in your lab during blackouts and you spend time with his daughter.”

“Does... anyone else know?” Tony swallowed and Natasha shook her head.

“No, Clint is relatively slow on the uptake and I’m pretty sure no one else has even noticed he’s been coming in and out of here.” Natasha shrugged. “Not that it’s any of our business who you choose to hook up with. Just didn’t expect you to be interested in Deadpool is all.”

“Clint hasn’t told Steve?” Tony was honestly baffled, he’d thought the moment that Clint noticed Wade was spending an immense amount of time at the compound that he’d run off and tattle to Steve.

“Believe it or not, Tony, I’m not heartless. Just because Clint is my best friend doesn’t mean I’m gonna let him run around doing whatever he pleases.” The fiery red head pressed her lips into a thin line. “I made sure to explain to Clint that you’re a big boy and Steve isn’t your mother. So, what you do outside of mission or training hours is none of his, or anyone else’s business.”

“Yeah?” Tony hadn’t noticed his shoulders were tensed up until he felt them relax under Natasha’s reassuring declaration.

“Yeah.” Natasha’s stern look turned to one of sympathy as she reached across the table and laid her hand over Tony’s. “Now, how about you tell me about your little boyfriend? Hm? I mean, I said it was none of my business but... I’m a spy, prying is sorta what I do.”

“I... dunno what you’re talking about.” Tony reached over the table and snatched up his green shake. The tangy taste of kiwi masking the slight swampy taste of the liquid chlorophyll he’d picked up drinking so many years ago. “No boyfriend here.”

“That’s what you’re sticking with, really?” Natasha cocked her brow as she folded her arms on the table. “Well then what’s a good explanation for having Deadpool over every two days for the past couple weeks?”

“What?” Tony swallowed the thick, chunky liquid as he turned his eyes to the red head.

“Don’t worry, I think I’m the only one that’s noticed the actual amount of times he’s visited.” Natasha winked, making him choke a little on his drink. It’d been a long time since Natasha had shot some friendly fire his way. “Your cute little family get together is safe with me. So, like, are you going to be her second dad or is that a too soon kinda thing? With you I wouldn’t even doubt you have adoption papers set up. You’ve never really had a sense for the world of bou-“

“Woah! Slow down there, my venomous friend.” Tony quickly set his cup down and held his hand up to silence her. “There is no adoption, no second fathering, and absolutely, no relationship.”

“You haven’t made your move yet?” Natasha’s tone was neutral and her expression wasn’t revealing much but Tony caught the gleam of surprise in her eyes.

Was it really so strange that he hadn’t made a move? Okay, yeah... probably. He could see where she was coming from. He’s suppose to be a genius, billionaire, PLAYBOY, philanthropist and how in the hell was he suppose he a playboy when he couldn’t even ask one guy out?

“There’s nothing to...” Tony trailed at the disapproving glare of his fellow Avenger, and maybe his only ally left on the former rogue team. “No, I haven’t. He’s... not interested.”

“You’re kidding.” Natasha stated dryly and, as she caught the seriousness of Tony’s expression, she rolled her eyes. “You’re not kidding, wow, okay. You’re so clueless, I don’t... okay, how can someone with as much experience as you be so...” she tapped her fingers against the table, filling the air with a soft rhythm of clicking. “The guy lets you spend time with his daughter.” As Tony opened his mouth to counter her statement with one of his own, she held her finger up and talked right over him. “A daughter in which didn’t even exist in Shields personal files. Aside from Wades home address, that’s the only thing Shield agreed not to put in his files, Tony.”

“Yeah, I know.” Tony sighed as he rubbed his eyes, tiredly. “He told me Shield agreed to keep it out when he agreed to take on missions for them whenever they asked.”

“Yes, exactly, which means he doesn’t trust anyone with the identity of his daughter.”

“Well, you seem to know.”

“Because I gathered the information on him, Tony.” Natasha sighed as she gave him a stern look. “Ask anyone else in Shield, other than Fury, and they’ll tell you everything they know about Wade, and not a damn one of them can tell you anything about his personal life.” Natasha smirked as she spoke her next word. “So, Tony, what exactly makes you so special?”

“Uh, I’m trustworthy.” Natasha’s smirk immediately fell and she rolled her eyes.

“No, болван.” Natasha stood from her chair. “He’s obviously into you and you need to get over yourself and whatever slump you’ve let yourself fall into and make a move.”

“Aren’t you... what about Steve?”

Tony narrowed his eyes at Natasha in suspicion as she patted his shoulder, and Tony felt sort of touched because that was about as close to a hug as the super spy got.

“Tony, don’t let anyone else make your decisions for you.” Natasha gave him the softest smile Tony had ever seen cross her lips, which wasn’t very soft but he’d give her credit, before she removed her hand and headed for the doors. “Steve will move on, he will have to, right? Life sucks and it only gets suckier so take what you can get, Tony. Take that advice from someone who has lost everything.”

With those words, Natasha disappeared into the elevator, leaving Tony to fumble with his thoughts. He hadn’t expected Natasha to be so understanding, and he definitely hadn’t expected her to encourage his crush on Wade. He couldn’t say he one hundred percent forgave her, he also couldn’t say he even trusted her, but his chest filled with joy that there was someone who understood him. Pepper and Rhodey were great, they supported him and were angry for him but, other than Peter, no one seemed to understand that he didn’t wanna step back into his old camaraderie with Steve.

For the first time in a long time, there was someone who saw his point of view.

Natasha knew his secret and finally...

Finally...

Tony felt like there was someone standing on his side.

The thought alone made Tony want to cry... but he didn’t, of course, because he had done enough crying.

Nope, the wetness on his cheeks weren’t tears, it was sweat and thats the story Tony was going to stick to because... well...

It was none of anyone else’s damn business anyways.

***

Tony poured himself a glass of hot coffee as he glanced around the empty communal kitchen. It didn’t surprise him that it was empty, since it was three in the morning, but it did surprise him and they’d remembered to replace the filter in the coffee maker before going to bed. Tony was very grumpy when it came to his early morning coffee breaks and it wasn’t past him to wake them up in the middle of the night to force whoever showed up on the video feed to last use the coffee maker to replace the filter cartridge. Tony wasn’t a stickler for rules, hated most of them in fact, but he sure as hell followed the coffee law. The law he made up back when the Avengers moved into his tower, demanding whoever last user the coffee machine to clean said coffee machine.

Tony took a large gulp of the steaming hot, bitter coffee and he let a content sigh at the burning liquid that filled his tastebuds. caffeine was the only addiction he’d stuck with through the years. He’d given up coke, alcohol, and pills but Pepper had let him keep his caffeine addiction, probably because it wasn’t a real worrisome addiction compared to the formers.

“Tony.” Clint rasped out from above him and before Tony could even look up to the sound, a sleepy eyed Hawkeye landed next to him. “Gimme.”

Clint snatched the mug out of the billionaires grasp, eliciting a disgruntled Yelp from him. Clint ignored Tony’s mumbled protests as he gulped down the liquid, slapping the empty mug back into the genius’ hands before taking a seat on the marble counter top.

Honestly, Tony really hated the Brazilian blue stone counter tops. He’d never really liked the shade and now he just hated them even more because it’d been Steve that’d picked them out. He’d wanted to go with the sleek red lava stone counter tops but, Steve had insisted that red would pop too much and the light blue would compliment the calm white offset of the wall trimmings.

Tony should’ve went with the lava stone.

“You alright there, Starky boy?” Clint’s voice, finally devoid of sleep, filtered through Tony’s thoughts and the billionaires eyes moved from the countertop to Clint’s baggy eyes. Someone had not been getting enough sleep, not that Tony could judge.

“Yeah, you just drank my coffee.”

“Uh, yeah, I know.” Clint smirked as he leaned back against the Maple wood cabinets, and god did Tony hate the cabinets too. Why the hell did he let Steve talk him into getting those over the nice, dark, sleek cherry wood ones he had had his eyes on? “It was a bit bitter, next time, I’d like more sugar.”

“You like these cabinets?” Tony blurted out and Clint furrowed his brow in confusion before glancing back at the cabinet doors.

“Uh... I guess?” He shrugged before he hopped off the counter and backed up Tony’s way to get a better look. “Well...” Clint trailed. “I mean... They’re a little... lightly colored?” Clint critiqued and Tony couldn’t help but feel a bit victorious because Clint agreed with his opinion on the cabinets shade, not Steve’s.

Would Clint still have the same opinion if he knew That?

“Steve picked them out.” Tony kept his eyes on the cabinets, waiting for Clint to change his opinion. “I kinda hated them.”

“Yeah?” Clint narrowed his eyes at the wood. “Not really diggin’ ‘em much myself.” Clint’s words surprised Tony a bit but he kept that to himself. Maybe he wasn’t giving the bird brain enough credit. Maybe he did have a mind of his own. “I didn’t wanna say anything but... the counters aren’t really my style either but who am I to complain? I just live here.”

“No, I don’t like it.” Tony quickly chimed in, assuring Clint he hadn’t misspoken.

“Then... why?” Clint looked over to Tony and the billionaire furrowed his brows, as if asking for the archer to elaborate. “Why’d you do it? If you didn’t like it, you guys should’ve compromised and gone with something else.”

“Yeah?” Tony cocked his brow as he glanced back to the kitchen design, and Tony couldn’t help but feel like the two weren’t quite talking about the kitchen anymore. Sue Tony if he was wrong but, he couldn’t help but think Clint might not be such a douche bag after all.

“Yeah, sometimes teamwork is important.” Clint shrugged. “Even for the little things, like domestic home decoration.”

Clint was right, they should’ve talked things through back then. Why hadn’t Tony just replaced them when the rogues left? Why had he kept those ugly ass cabinets and that unattractive color scheme? And suddenly, Tony had an amazing idea.

“Wanna knock ‘em out?” Tony sat his mug on the counter as he opened the cabinet doors.

“What?” Clint’s eyes widened in surprise as he watched the billionaire begin pulled dishes out of the cabinets and moving them to the dining room table.

“I hate them.” Tony shrugged as he finished emptying the mug cabinet. “Let’s demolish them.”

“You want to.... demolish the communal kitchen?” Clint narrowed his eyes as he watched Tony carefully. “Is this a test?”

“Call it... a team building exercise.” Tony smirked as he finished emptying another cabinet. “Go grab my sledge hammers and lets fucking get rid of these shitty things. This time, we’ll pick out the decor.”

Clint stared at Tony for a few minutes more before clapping his hands together in excitement. Tony felt the suspicious atmosphere dissipate as the archer darted toward Tony’s workshop.

It didn’t take long for Tony to finish emptying the cabinets, seeing as how all the food is kept in a pantry and they only kept dishes in the cabinets. By the time Clint arrived back in the kitchen with the hammers, the cabinets were ready for demolition. Tony took one of the hammers into his hand, weighing the tool as he eyed the counters and cabinets. He lifted the hammer up but before he could even begin to swing downward, Clint grabbed his arm and held it still.

“Wait!” Clint hissed as he pulled something out of his pocket. “Safety first.”

Tony looked down at Clint’s hand to find he was holding two pairs of Tony’s safety glasses. The blonde slipped a pair over his eyes before tossing the other pair to Tony. Tony slipped the glasses over his own eyes and gave a small smile at the consideration of his teammate. They didn’t really get along but... Clint still had his back when it mattered.

“I call first swing!” Clint hollered excitedly as he raised the hammer above his head. “Laura won’t let me knock down anything to fix stuff up anymore. Says I do more destruction than I do improving and honestly... she’s probably right.”

Tony let out an amused snort as Clint brought the hammer down onto the countertops, cracking a few pieces off with one swing. Impressive, but Tony was sure he could do better. The billionaire stepped up next to the archer as the two of them sledged away, chipping the counters away piece by piece. Together, they cracked away at the solid foundation Tony had created with Steve so long ago, and he couldn’t help but feel a sliver of happiness for it.  
Who would’ve thought that Clint Barton would be the man helping Tony destroy his past to create a new one?  
Even if Clint didn’t know that he was contributing, Tony didn’t really care. He was just happy, and if he said that it didn’t help to know that Clint didn’t completely hate him, well...  
Tony would be lying, of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please ignore or point out typos.
> 
> Here’s another chapter, I hope you like it... it’s a small moment of camaraderie between teammates and a step in the right direction for our precious billionaire. A piece of happiness long forgotten 😭😭
> 
> Enjoy!


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam is a light sleeper...  
> Tony comes to a sudden realization...  
> And Ellie is just as cute as always.

“What’re you guys doing?” Sams voice was raspy, and Tony could tell by the choice of loose fitting clothing, they’d woken him from his slumber.

“Destroying the hopes and dreams of a thousand villagers.” Clint answered without looking up, swinging his hammer down once more, cracking off another piece of the blue countertop.

“We decided to redecorate.” Tony turned toward their sleep deprived teammate as he slipped his glasses from his face. “Care to join?”

“No, thank you.” Sam yawned as he scratched the side of his face. “Its way too early. I woke up thinking Steve was having some kind of fight with the blender again but then remembered he’s out on that recon mission.” He rubbed his hand down his face. “Why so late? Or early? Or even at all? Just why?”

“Why not?” Clint spoke up as he stepped up next to Tony, a huge smile plastered on his face and Tony felt a little happy that Clint was enjoying himself in Tony’s company because, really, when was the last time Clint could even stand to be in the same room as Tony? “When you’ve got the urge to smash, you smash.”

“Wise words once said by our friend, the Hulk.” Tony chuckled and Sam let out a snort.

“Even Hulk didn’t wake up to smash countertops in the kitchen before breakfast.” And that made Tony let out a chuckle. “At least make the team breakfast before destroying the room where said breakfast is made.”

“I, for one, am glad I don’t have to eat another one of Clint’s homemade donuts.” Natasha chimed in as she stepped into the room, her hair tugged back into two messy pigtails and Tony couldn’t help but smirk at the childish hair style.

“Hey, my kids said they love my donuts!”

“Your kids lied.” Sam laid his hand over Clint’s shoulder in mock comfort. “It happens to the best of us, man.”

“It doesn’t happen to me.” Natasha spoke up and Clint narrowed his eyes at his spy counterpart. “They love their aunt Nat too much to lie to her.”

“Why does everyone want to steal the respect of my children from me?” Clint groaned as he let a dejected look fall on his face.

“Don’t worry, I don’t want your kids.” Tony smirked at his little joke and Clint sucked in an offended gasp.

“I am a wonderful lover and I make beautiful children.”

“Well, wonderful lover and Tony, why don’t the two of you hurry up and finish your little destruction mission and get to fixing up the kitchen.” Natasha smiled as she took hold of Sams arm and dragged him with her out of the kitchen. “You better get his place in tip top shape before Thursday or Steve’s gonna have a cow when he can’t cook team dinners.”  
“Sir, yes, sir.” Clint saluted, obviously oblivious to what Tony had caught on to and he quickly returned to his hammering.

Tony stared after the backs of his two teammates, wondering when the hell that had started happening. As far as Tony remember, Nat had been in love with, and still torn up over Bruce. Though, that had been two years ago so... he’d probably missed a lot of team ‘bonding’ between the pair.

He let a small knowing smirk play over his lips before he turned back and slid his glasses over his face. He picked up his hammer and joined Clint, continuing to chip away at the past, just a bit more excited to see the future.

***

“I like purple!” Ellie clapped her hands excitedly, hopping in place as Clint let out a victorious cheer.

“In your face, Stark!” Clint gave the little traitor a hi-five as Tony narrowed his eyes at the two accomplices.

Clint and Tony had spent a few hours destroying the communal kitchen and Tony had hired a cleaning crew to come out and clear all the debris out while he and Clint decided on the decor down in the lab. They spent a good twenty minutes arguing over the color scheme before Wade and Ellie made an appearance, joining the duo on their quest.

“Who chooses purple for countertops?”

“Six year olds.” Wade snorted as he shook his head at the two cheerful Victorians across the room. “I’d help you out, Iron Buns, but if I decide against Ellie then I’ll lose best daddy of the week and I made a bet with Terry that I was the better one.”

“If you agreed with me I’d make you my honorary daddy of the year.” Tony mumbled and immediately froze after realizing he’d said that out loud.

Tony wanted to slap himself for even opening his mouth. He’d been making a huge effort to avoid his flirty attitude with Wade as of late. After their whole ‘our kiss meant nothing’ talk, Tony had been trying to actively avoid flirtatious topics.

“Hmmm...” Wade smirked and Tony just managed to swallow down the butterflies that threatened to crawl up his throat at that tempting smirk. “Well, I mean... what’s twenty bucks?” The wink was overkill and Tony wanted to die when Wade pushed himself off of the metal table he was leaning against. “Hey, Ellie-Belly, wanna hear a secret?”

At the sound of Wades words, Ellie’s eyes flitted from the excited archer to the mouthy merc. Her browns widened in curiosity as she tilted her head in that familiar cute way that Tony couldn’t help but love. Tony was sure there couldn’t possibly be a cuter kid in the world, even if she was basically committing treason by agreeing with Clint.

“A secret?” Ellie’s eyes widened and her big browns slid Tony’s way as Wade crouched down and whispered something in her ear. Tony watched as Ellie’s lips stretched over her teeth, showing the cute gap toothed smile that Tony couldn’t help but adore. “Really?!” Her voice rang out in excitement and before Tony could even blink she darted his way, wrapping herself around his legs. “You’ll really come with us Tony?!”

Tony’s eyes widened in surprise and confusion as he stared down into her hopeful eyes.

“Yes?” It was more of a question than an answer but Ellie let out an excited holler as she snuggled the billionaires legs.

“I choose red!” Ellie giggled as she turned her head slightly to Clint before sticking her tongue out. “Red red red!”

“Awe, Ellie, no!” Clint groaned as he let his head drop in indignation. “How’d I go from winning to losing so fast?”

“Better yet, what’d I just agree to?” Tony cocked his eyebrow, ignoring Clint’s sulking as he glanced over at Wade for an answer.

“Oh, I told her if she picked red, you’d join us for our trip to Coney Island tomorrow.” Ellie squeezed Tony’s legs a little tighter at Wades reveal. “She’s been asking if you could go with us for the past week and I kept telling her you would be too busy to go but... now you’ve got no choice, Iron Daddy.”

“Oh?” Tony shifted his eyes down to the big browns staring back up at him.

“will you come, Tony?” Ellie begged, her big brown eyes staring up at him, and Tony couldn’t resist the cute look on her face. “Pretty please?”

“I... Yeah, of course, little Elephant.” Tony kneeled down as he let her wrap her skinny little arms around his neck, hopping up as she wrapped her legs around his torso. “I’d never pass up a day with my favorite girl.”

“I love you, Tony.” Ellie whispered as she leaned her head against his shoulder and Tony’s eyes widened in surprise.

The whole world seemed to fall out from under him at those three little words. He let his arms wrap firmly around her small little body as he buried his nose in her darkened locks, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head. His chest constricted, in a good way, and he felt his eyes begin to tear up. He wasn’t aware he’d even wanted to hear those words but as soon as she said them, he felt his chest burst. He wanted to cry, he wanted to never let her go and though he was happy, somehow his chest ached at the small empty space left. For the first time, Tony really wanted something.

Tony wanted a family.

Tony wanted Wade and Ellie.

The billionaire let his eyes drift upward, his lashes fluttering as he rubbed circles in his little Ellie-Beans back. His browns met with a pair of striking blues and the whole world seemed to melt away.

It was just him.

Just him and Ellie and Wade and no one else.

Clint no longer existed.

The lab wasn’t the lab and nothing else in the world mattered as Tony let the words fall softly from his lips.

“I love you, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please ignore or point out typos.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this short little chapter!  
> Also, I’ve decided later on that Nat will get her own story in this series as well, though, that’ll be AFTER Steve’s story.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day at Coney Island...  
> Confessions from Wade Wilson...  
> Tony Stark usually gets what he wants.

  
“That one next, Daddy!” Ellie clapped her hands in excitement as she pointed to the ride ahead of them.

They’d only been at the park for a good two hours but Tony was exhausted. He could fight bad guys all day without breaking a sweat but following a hyper child throughout an amusement park, hopping from ride to ride, that seemed to wear Tony out pretty fast. As tired as he was though, he was completely enjoying his time with Wade and Ellie. In fact, if every time he felt exhausted were due to running around in the late summer heat of September with the two trouble makers, then he’d sign up for that every damn day.

“You okay, Iron Daddy?” Wades voice broke Tony out of his reverie.

“Yeah, I’m good, great actually.” Tony smiled, running his eyes over Wades exposed features.

Tony had almost swallowed his tongue after seeing Wade earlier in the morning when the two had shown up at the tower to snatch him away from Clint and his latest project. He’d been directing the workers around the kitchen when Wade had shown up wearing a long sleeve, white muscle shirt and a pair of faded Levi’s. He still wore a hat to hide some of his features, but the rest of his outfit more than made up for the fact. It was a lot easier to see the sharp lines of Wades jaw without his hood covering the sides of his face and god did Tony just want to reach out and run his hands down Wades body because damn did he look good. The outfit clung to his body in all the right places and Clint had made sure to tease Tony about it before shooing the billionaire off, claiming charge over the kitchen while he was out with Ellie and Wade.

“You wanna go on that?” Wade pointed over to the Carousel that Ellie was scurrying over to.

“Do you?” Tony questioned in return because, quite honestly, he just wanted to do what Wade wanted to do.

“Hey, Ellie-Bellie.” Wade called to the little girl as she came to a stop at the ride entrance. “You head on in, we’ll watch you from out here. Us old men need a rest or we’ll croak.” Wade kneeled down in front of Ellie as she handed him her book bag, she’d insisted on bringing her own packed lunch and Wade hadn’t wanted to argue with her. “That okay?”

Ellie furrowed her brows in confusion and Tony wished he’d brought a camera because she was just too cute.

“Croak?” She tilted her head to the side. “Like a frog?”

“Yeah.” Tony snorted at Wades answer before he joined in as well.

“You don’t want your dad and I to turn into slimy, green frogs, do you?”

Ellie scrunched up her nose as she pursed her lips. After a few moments she brought her hands up, clapping them against Wades cheeks.

“Not my Tony!” Ellie squealed before turning and darting into the ride entrance. “But Daddy can be a frog!”

“Hey! When did Tony become more important?!” Wade whined as his daughter ran out of ear shot, climbing aboard the ride and Tony let out an amused chuckle.

“I’m just too amazing.” Tony shrugged as Wade stood up and turned to him. “Next thing you know your kid won’t want to go home.”

“She already doesn’t.” Wade snorted as he leaned against the rides window, watching as Ellie picked out a horse. “I had to bribe her with cheesecake when she woke up halfway out of the compound last week.”

Tony’s smile widened at the words as the attendant assisted Ellie in climbing onto the grey speckled horse. Tony didn’t know what he did to deserve so much love from Ellie but he was so thankful. He loved spending time with her and it didn’t hurt that her father just so happened to be the man he was in love with. He let his eyes drift to the side as he admired Wade once more.

He was leaning against the glass, his eyes focused on Ellie as the ride began to circle. Tony admired the way his jeans hugged his ass and the way his skin tight shirt lined the muscles of his arms. Tony wanted to tear Wades shirt off and run his hands down his torso. What Tony would give just to see Wade in a swimsuit and suddenly Tony had the urge to invite Ellie and Wade swimming at the compound sometime soon.

“You know, when I found out about her, I was terrified to be a dad, but then her little hands grasped my finger and I just fell in love. Now I’m just waiting...” Wade trailed and Tony moved his eyes up to the side of Wades face as he spoke. “I got her mom killed.” Wade swallowed and Tony furrowed his brows as he listened silently. “She got kidnapped because of who I am. I found her in a camp but, it was already too late.” Wades voice faltered a bit as he continued. “I worry that Ellie will hate me when she finds out. I can’t bare the thought that she’ll want nothing to do with me, ya know?”

Tony turned his eyes toward Ellie just as she disappeared behind the large Carousel pillar. He knew Wade was being too harsh on himself, Tony understood what it felt like to blame himself for the death of others. Wade hadn’t pulled the trigger and it wasn’t all his fault that Ellie’s mom had died. Tony knew he wouldn’t listen though, so the billionaire didn’t try to debate the topic. He wouldn’t like if someone did that with him either.

“She won’t.” Tony replied as he turned his eyes back toward Wade to find those striking blues filled to the brim with fear and uncertainty. “Ellie would never hold that against you.”

“How do you know?” Wades lips curled into a small, pained smile as he studied Tony’s face. “How can you be so sure?”

“You’re a good dad.” Tony bumped his elbow against Wades as he let a comforting smile form on his lips in reply to Wades pain. “She loves you and she’s a smart kid. I bet when she finds out, her first move will be to hug you, because that’s the kind of girl Ellie is.”

“Yeah?” Wade glanced out toward Ellie. “You think so?”

“Definitely.” Tony nodded. They sat in silence for a few moments before Tony let the curiosity take over. “Did you love her?”

“Carmelita?” Wade shook his head as he let his eyes slip back to Tony’s questioning gaze. “We sort of had an end of the moment fling. She thought she was gonna die and then ran for the hills after seeing my ugly mug.” Wade snorted at his own expense and Tony felt his chest ache for him. “How could I blame her? Who would want this?”

“Don’t do that.” Tony shook his head, his brows furrowed. “Don’t talk about yourself that way.”

“And What? Just lie to myself?” Wade snorted as he shifted his eyes back to the ride, waving to his daughter as she reappeared around the bend. “It’s true. She’s not the first person to run away after seeing my skin. No need to lie.” Wade shrugged. “I was a mistake for her too.”

And that struck Tony right in the gut. His stomach rolled and he wanted to throw up because he’d said that to Wade, hadn’t he? He’d said it was a mistake and maybe that’s all Wade heard. That hadn’t been what he meant and he knew that but did Wade? No. Tony could gather that the man had more than likely left before the rest of Tony’s explanation. Had he been blaming himself the whole time? Is this what Wade had been thinking? That Tony didn’t want him? That Tony was repulsed by him?

“You’re not a mistake.” Tony swallowed down the nerves making their way up his chest and into his throat. “I said that, but I wasn’t talking about you. I was talking about me, Wade.”

“You?” Wade turned back toward Tony, his face contorted with confusion. “Why would you be a mistake?”

“I’m a mess.” Tony huffed out an airy laugh. “I haven’t touched anyone intimately in two years. I have PTSD out the ass from so much fucked up shit. I’m an addict, or was, I guess.” Tony listed off his problems and he could feel Wades eyes burning a hole in his face. “I’m so fucked up, I can’t even function without a cup of coffee and a pep talk from my own A.I. If Pepper didn’t exist, sometimes I’d forget to breath.” Tony swallowed as he forced his eyes up to meet Wades. “Who wants to be with a man who was deserted by Captain America?”

Tony felt the tears burning his eyes as he fought to keep them back. He was pathetic enough as it was, he didn’t need to ruin the day by crying in front of Ellie.

“I do.” Tony tilted his head in confusion at Wades words and the merc pushed himself off the glass as he stepped in front of the billionaire, trapping him against the window. His hands gripped Tony’s waist firmly. “I want you, Tony.”

Tony’s heart skipped a beat at the sound of his name but before he could fully process the words, Wades lips were pressed to his and Tony’s eyes widened in surprise.

Wade was kissing him!

Wade wanted him!

Wade was kissing him and he wanted him and Tony was ready to cry but instead he closed his eyes.

Tony closed his eyes and melted into Wades touch. He opened his mouth and he felt Wade deepen the kiss, slipping his tongue through Tony’s lips as he explored the cave of the genius’ mouth. He let his tongue run along Wades as they tasted each other and Tony couldn’t help but enjoy the strange spicy mixture of flavors that was Wade. Tony was never one for spicy food but... he loved Wades flavor.

Tony let out a content sigh against the mercs lips.

Then, it clicked.

Suddenly Tony felt he could cry because he was kissing Wade and HE WASNT HAVING A PANIC ATTACK!

He was kissing Wade and he was ENJOYING it!

Tony pushed forward and let out a small moan as Wade tightened his grip on Tony’s hips, pulling Tony flush against him. Tony ran his hands up Wades back before resting them on his neck. He splayed his fingers along the other man’s scars and he felt Wade purr at the feeling. Wades hands slipped under his shirt, running along Tony’s bare back before pulling away from the kiss.

“God, I’ve wanted to do that for awhile.” Wade placed a final, chaste kiss on Tony’s lips before pulling away, eliciting a whine from the billionaire. “Hey, don’t worry, we’ll definitely be finishing that later.” Wade winked at Tony as the billionaire worried his bottom lip at the loss of contact. “Ellie’s on her way back and you do not want her relentless teasing, trust me. Nothing is private with a six year old.”

“Okay.” Tony finally breathed as he nodded his head. “This? This is happening though, right? I’m not crazy?”

“No, it’s definitely happening.” Wade grinned at the billionaire. “I’m gonna need more of that, soon.”

“Yeah.” Tony nodded quickly in agreement, his words failing him as Ellie raced their way. “Okay.”

“I’m hungry, daddy!” Ellie hollered as she stepped up next to Wade. “Can we get hot dogs?”

“You packed PB&J, El.” Wade chuckled. “I told you you weren’t gonna want it.”

“I brought it for you!” Ellie claimed and Wade let out a loud laugh at her little fib.

“Alright, Fine.” Wade rolled his eyes as he glanced back at Tony. “Want to go grab hot dogs?”

Tony only nodded because he was still a little lost in the moment. His lips burned and his heart was racing faster with each word Wade spoke and god was Tony so screwed. How was he going to get through the rest of the day knowing he could be ravaging Wade? How was he suppose to stand there and pretend he wasn’t melting under every look Wade shot him?

“Alright, let’s go.” Wade motioned for Ellie to lead the way and she took off in front of them, leaving Wade to walk beside Tony. “You gonna be okay there, Tony?”

Tony’s heart skipped at the sound of his name falling off Wades lips and his eyes darted over to find Wade smirking devilishly. Tony bit the inside of his bottom lip as he held back the whine that wanted to escape his throat.

Wade was torturing him on purpose.

God, Tony was going to die waiting for later.

“No.”

Wades grin widened at Tony’s confession and Tony knew he’d made a mistake. He should’ve kept his mouth shut because now Wade was going to make the day even harder.

Tony felt Wade slip his hand under the back of his shirt, sinking his fingers just under the waistband of his pants. Tony’s breath hitched as Wade gave a small squeeze to the top of Tony’s ass, letting out a small chuckle at the billionaires reaction.

Wade Wilson really was going to be the death of Tony Stark.

Not that Tony minded.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please ignore or point out typos.


End file.
